Samuel Pritt, a home-schooled senior from Walkersville, has been named a regional finalist in the Siemens Foundation competition in math, science and technology.

Samuel is being honored for his computer science research project on geolocation of photographs. His project could better determine where a photograph was taken using the horizon curve in the photo, which like fingerprinting, which often is distinctive enough to accurately pinpoint a location.

Samuel was scheduled to present his project Nov. 2-3, to judges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Winners of the regional competition will move on to the national finals Dec. 1-4, at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Scholarships totaling $500,000 will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.

This year, 2,255 students throughout the country entered the Siemens competition, for a total of 1,504 projects submitted.

Samuel is one of two regional finalists from Maryland. The other is Neil Davey of Gaithersburg, a senior at Montgomery Blair High School in Montgomery County.