Zach Urtes, a senior at Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts, is in the running as a regional winner in the "Doodle 4 Google" national competition. This year's contest challenged students in K-12 to "reinvent" the homepage logo of the online search engine's Web site based on the theme, "What if ... ?"

As one of 40 regional winners --- chosen from among thousands of doodles, according to Google --- Zach moves into the "public vote" portion of the contest for one of four national finalists awards. Online voting continues through Sunday, May 18. To vote, go to http://www.google.com/doodle4google/index.html, click on "Vote Now."

The winning doodle is expected to replace Google's usual logo for 24 hours on the Web site's homepage on May 22.

You'll find Zach's entry --- which appears at the top of this post and is titled, "What if Artificial Intelligence flourished?" --- under Grades 10-12, Region 3. The accompanying description, posted on the contest's Web page, asks these questions: “What does the future hold? What if artificial intelligence was allowed limitless enhancement? I believe that technology will reach a point where machines will be engineered in our image. Using our own anatomy as a stepping point, what if the pursuit of perfection results in the new age of robotics?”

The national winner will receive a $10,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer, and a $25,000 grant to establish or improve the computer lab at his or her school. Each of the other three national finalists will win laptop computers.