So it's not surprising the 18-year-old home-schooler attended the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta with two students from Catalina Foothills High School earlier this month. He took second place in the electrical and mechanical category and was awarded $8,000 in scholarships for his invention: a vertical axis wind turbine.
Catalina Foothills' Eva Megan Nichols, 18, and Mary Xue Wang, 17, were presented with $2,000 worth of shares from United Technologies Corp., a global technology firm based in Hartford, Conn.
The invention was constructed with intentions of finding a way to conserve energy for the household, Owan said. The project took about a year to complete.
Taking into account that few wind machines constructed in the city are adaptable to changing wind speeds, Owan designed his turbine to accommodate fluctuations.
"My build takes advantage of the power available in the wind at all speeds and it can fit on top of the house," he said. "It basically changes the orientation of the blades to maximize the efficiency.
"I have always had a love for designing and building things. I love the whole concept of it," Owan said. "The design, construction and testing - and going back to make it better."
Already obtaining the patent for his design and supporting computer program that adjusts the direction of the turbine blades, Owan plans to take his idea all the way and make it into an energy-saving product.
Even early in life, Parker amazed teachers with his curiosity, along with his ability to assemble things quickly and creatively, Andrea Owan said of her son.
When the Owan family lived in California, Parker attended an accelerated school in the second grade. Even there he was unchallenged.
When Parker started coming home in tears, she pulled him out of his second-grade class and into home-school, said Andrea, who, with husband Chris Owan, moved the family to Arizona in 1997.
"Parker has always been a precocious child. I would ask him what was wrong and he would say he was bored," she said. "He gets done with his work early and then he would run around talking to other students disrupting the class."
Parker said home-school education for the past 11 years has allowed him to focus on his two strengths - math and science - and spend time with his father.
"My dad is a mechanical engineer, so I watched him work on engineering a lot," Parker said. "He also taught a few of my math courses as well."
Besides developing a product with hopes of being distributed nationally, Parker will be faced with another big transition in his life: entering the electrical engineering program at the University of Arizona this fall.
Still, Parker said he isn't nervous about attending the large university.
"I took a computer programming class at Pima before and I know a few kids who are going to as well," he said. "I consider myself to be a sociable person so it's not hard for me."
Outside of academia, Parker likes to write and play music.
"I like writing a song, playing the song, and then perfecting it," said Parker, who plays the trumpet and bass guitar.
