Minnesota teen math whiz makes U.S. physics team, will compete for world title July 9, 2021 — 7:59pm Text size Copy shortlink: "It's kind of an inside joke," Evan Erickson said. He figures out the rules fast and then explains them to his mom and siblings. Convoluted instruction manuals fall under his best skill set: problem solving. And this summer, he will bring those skills to the world stage. Erickson is one of five U.S. teenagers to qualify for the annual International Physics Olympiad, the biggest secondary school physics competition in the world. Erickson made it through several rounds of testing, where 7,000 of the country's top physics students were whittled down to the final team.