Schools

Waukesha Teen Receives Thiel Fellowship

Connor Zwick, a graduate of Waukesha Engineering Preparatory Academy, will have two years to develop a Flashcards+ application program.

A Waukesha teen is having the opportunity of a lifetime to focus on the development of his application Flashcards+.

Connor Zwick, who studied this past year at Harvard University, was named to the 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowships. He will receive $100,000 during the two-year program to continue the development of his application.

“It gives you validation so that you can go home to your mom and be like ‘I am not just going to be a bum,’” said Zwick in this YouTube video. Patch has attempted to contact Zwick for an interview.

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Here’s what the Thiel Foundation said about Zwick:

Connor Zwick is passionate about education – which is why he has set out to revolutionize our country’s antiquated system using technology. As a Thiel Fellow, he will focus on Flashcards+, a mobile educational platform with a base of over 1.5 million downloads that allows anyone to learn anything using crowd sourced generated content from a database of more than 400 million flashcards.

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CNBC will air a special about the fellowship program at 9 p.m. Central Time July 11 and July 12.

Patch interviewed Zwick in January 2011 when he was a senior at Waukesha Engineering Prepartory Academy. Zwick was The robotics diverse team opened "my eyes to different walks of life," Zwick said.

"The biggest thing I’ve gotten out of robotics is not the technical but the professional skills," Zwick said in 2011. "It really is a life-changing activity.”

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