Sirish Subash, a 9th-grade student from Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology in Snellville, Georgia, was recently crowned the winner of the 2024 3M Young Scientist Challenge, a premier national science competition for middle school students. Jointly organized by 3M and Discovery Education, the challenge encourages students to use STEM skills to devise real-world solutions. Sirish gained recognition for his project, Pestiscand, a handheld device powered by AI that identifies pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables.
For his innovative work, Sirish was awarded a $25,000 cash prize and received the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist.” His journey to victory involved four months of competition alongside nine other finalists, culminating in a series of interactive tasks at 3M’s headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 14 and 15. Contestants were evaluated on criteria such as originality, STEM application, research, presentation skills, and inspirational impact.
Sirish’s device, Pestiscand, leverages spectrophotometry, a method that measures how different wavelengths of light reflect off produce surfaces, to detect pesticide residues without damaging the fruit or vegetable. A machine learning model analyzes these reflections to determine the presence of pesticides, achieving an impressive accuracy rate of over 85% in trials on spinach and tomatoes.
Torie Clarke, 3M’s EVP and chief public affairs officer, expressed admiration for the finalists, saying, “I am beyond impressed by their intelligence and scientific curiosity. Congratulations to Sirish and all finalists for their remarkable work.” This year, Sirish was mentored by Aditya Banerji, a Senior Research Engineer from 3M, who guided him through the development process from concept to prototype.
Amy Nakamoto, Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Discovery Education, added, “Discovery Education is thrilled to have supported student innovation for 17 years through the 3M Young Scientist Challenge.”
