Who is Gaurav Raja?

Question

I think he was some kind of a math person.

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaurav
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaurav#Important_People_with_the_name_Gaurav
Have a look at the links.

Answer 2

This guy from Salem High does a number on pi
"I'm kind of disappointed," said Gaurav Raja , 15, after his recitation of pi. But he was the only one who felt that way.

For five minutes there was only the sound of the air conditioner humming and the clickety-clack of Gaurav Raja typing numbers.

He sighed, stared at the screen, then closed his eyes and typed a few more digits. He put his head down, and pushed his hair back in frustration.

"2976590," he said. The judges shook their heads no.

Gaurav recited 8,784 digits of pi Tuesday, short of his goal of 10,790 and setting a new record in the United States and North America. But he did enough to possibly place third in national and North American pi recitation and 12th in the world. His ranking should be verified by the Pi World Ranking List within two months.

"I'm kind of disappointed, but I guess I did OK," said Gaurav, 15, a junior at Salem High School. But he was the only one who felt that way.

"I'm still stunned," said Linda Gooding, one of three contest judges. She then joked, "That's a couple more than I can do."

Gaurav began memorizing pi, a nonrepeating and nonterminating decimal, while a student in Gooding's math and computer science class. Gooding holds the competition every year, and said she expected students to learn about 40 digits. Gaurav recited nearly 2,990 the first time.

Since then, Gaurav has memorized sections of the numbers for hours at a time. He eventually designed a computer program to check for accuracy.

Zoning in on the numbers was a way to combat stress, Gaurav said. He sometimes practiced while listening to music or during telephone calls with friends.

His friends huddled around the classroom door before he began quickly reciting the numbers. Some sat for two hours as Gaurav rambled off the digits.

"I think it's pretty cool that someone can do that," said Allain Hart, 15, while standing outside the room.

If Gaurav had reached his goal, his parents would have bought him an Xbox 360.

Answer 3

Gaurav Raja, a 15-year-old Indian American high school student, has memorised 10,980 digits of pi, a mathematical term representing the ratio

Answer 4

"Gaurav Raja

Gaurav Raja (1990-) is an Indian-born American teenager who set the North American record for memorization of pi, reciting 10980 digits on June 12, 2006 in his third attempt to break the record.

Biography
Raja was born in India on July 10, 1990, the son of Jogesh Raja, a doctor, and Seema Raja. The family then moved to Salem, Virginia in the United States. After starting school, Raja was identified as gifted in mathematics and displayed a talent for both numbers and computers. These talents eventually led Raja into his pi memorization.

Inspiration and Early Memorization
Raja was initially inspired to memorize pi by a contest sponsored by his computer science teacher at Salem High School, Linda Gooding, who offered a pi to the student who could memorize the most digits of pi. After his victory in that contest with about 250 digits, Raja found that he had a talent for pi memorization and decided to keep going.

After discovering a website that compiles international pi memorization rankings, Raja decided to recite enough digits to earn a listing. He first recited publicly in April 2005, correctly rattling off 2990 digits, and earning himself a ranking of fifth in the United States, nineteenth in the world. After that, Raja set his sights on the US record of 10625 digits, and created a computer program to help him in his memorization efforts.

Failed Record Attempt
On March 14, 2006 (known as pi day), Raja was finally ready to attempt to break the record after extensive practice. In front of three judges (Gooding and two other Salem High School teachers, Beth Moody and Mark Baetz) and a small audience of friends, family, and journalists, Raja recited 8784 digits of pi, before accidentally transposing two digits.

Despite failing to get the record in the attempt, Raja received substantial press coverage, and was invited to appear on the Today Show in New York. He accepted the invitation and was flown to New York along with his mother and Gooding, who also appeared on the show. During his brief appearance, Raja was interviewed by Al Roker and recited a few digits of pie for the audience. The press coverage and Today Show appearance convinced Raja to continue practicing in preparation for another attempt on the record as did a promise from his father that he would receive an XBOX 360 if he succeeded.

Breaking the Record
On June 12, 2006 after another failed record attempt, Raja tried a third time to break the US and North American record. In front of the same judges he had used in the previous attempts and a smaller audience, Raja successfully recited 10980 digits, beating the previous record by 355 digits. The recitation lasted only one hour fourteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds, a rate of approximately two numbers per second.

After breaking the record, Raja was doubtful about the prospect of trying for the world record of 42,195 digits. Instead he announced plans to memorize the names and accomplishments of every Nobel Prize laureate. As for the more distant future, Raja plans to someday become a software engineer."

Answer 5

I don't know.