German-Indian teenager has recently won a research award for solving a mathematical problem first posed by Sir Isaac Newton more than 300 years ago that has baffled mathematicians ever since. According to Sunday Times, Shouryya Ray worked out how to calculate exactly the path of a projectile under gravity and subject to air resistance.

Shouryya, born in India who now lives in Dresden, eastern Germany, came up with the solutions to this and a second mathematical riddle while working on a school project. He is being hailed as a genius in the German press, but attributes his achievement to "curiosity and schoolboy naivety." "When it was explained to us that the problems had no solutions, I thought to myself: well, there's no harm in trying," he said.

The problems he resolved are from the field of dynamics. The first, dealing with the movement of projectiles through the air, was posed by Newton in the 17th century. The second, which relates to the collision of a body with a wall, was posed in the 19th century.

Only partial solutions had been discovered up to now, requiring simplified assumptions or calculations by computer. Shouryya's elegant solutions could contribute to greater precision in fields such as ballistics. Shouryya's family moved to Germany when he was 12 after his father Subhashis Ray, an engineer, got a job at a technical college. Shouryya spoke no German when he arrived but has mastered the language and is due to take the German equivalent of A-levels this week, two years ahead of his peers.

On top of that, Ray has also solved a second problem, dealing with the collision of a body with a wall, that was posed in the 19th century. Both problems Ray resolved are from the field of dynamics and his solutions are expected to contribute to greater precision in areas such as ballistics.