Eleven years later, everything is adding up for the engineering whiz.

The Brigham Young University student recently collected a $4,000 scholarship by winning the college division of HP (Hewlett-Packard) and Scholastic Inc.'s Create-a-Calculator contest - a prize that may be a steppingstone to greater calculations.

His winning design, the HP-50, would enable engineers to share data on their calculators with other devices they use in the field.

"I couldn't believe it at first," Wessman said. "I was about to go take a calculus test when I got the e-mail telling me I'd won. I didn't do so well because I was so distracted."

Wessman's work certainly did not escape the attention of HP officials. The company wants him to teach training sessions at technology conferences next year.

"It is quite exciting," the 23-year-old said.

Wessman finished his winning calculator concept in May, the night before his wedding day. His father then submitted his son's work to the contest while Wessman was on his honeymoon.

In fact, calculators had a big role in bringing Wessman and his wife together.

"We have to tell the story all the time," said Wessman's wife, Katie.

Four years ago, Wessman's future father-in-law, Brad Panike, was looking for a calculator to last his daughter through college when he read some online-help documents Wessman wrote.

Panike wrote and thanked Wessman for his help, and the two stayed in contact via e-mail for several years.

Along the way, Panike's daughter, Katie, learned of Wessman and wrote him as well. After Wessman returned from an LDS Church mission to Honduras, the two met and later married.

"I guess she liked me," Wessman said.

Now, Katie is in on a calculator craze. A technical writer by profession, she is helping to write manuals and other content for her husband's new business, Precision Surveying Solutions.

The company's major business product is a device that turns an HP graphing calculator into a land-surveying field tool capable of interfacing with modern technologies.

The BYU junior said the device is already worrying competitors because it's significantly cheaper ($900 compared to $5,000) and twice as fast as comparable surveying units on the market.

"There is a lot of buzz on the Internet," Wessman said. "A lot of people are waiting to buy [our product] when it comes out." thollingshead@sltrib.com