14-Year-old Wins ‘America’s Top Young Scientist’ for Inventing Pesticide Detector For Fruits and Vegetables

A 9th grader from Snellville, Georgia, has won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, after inventing a handheld device designed to detect pesticide residues on produce.

Sirish Subash set himself apart with his AI-based sensor to win the grand prize of $25,000 cash and the prestigious title of “America’s Top Young Scientist.”

Like most inventors, Sirish was intrigued with curiosity and a simple question. His mother always insisted that he wash the fruit before eating it, and the boy wondered if the preventative action actually did any good.

He learned that 70% of produce items contain pesticide residues that are linked to possible health problems like cancer and Alzheimer’s—and washing only removes part of the contamination.

“If we could detect them, we could avoid consuming them, and reduce the risk of those health issues.”

His device, called PestiSCAND, employs spectrophotometry, which involves measuring the light that is reflected off the surface of fruits and vegetables. In his experiments he tested over 12,000 samples of apples, spinach, strawberries, and tomatoes. Different materials reflect and absorb different wavelengths of light, and PestiSCAND can look for the specific wavelengths related to the pesticide residues.

After scanning the food, PestiSCAND uses an AI machine learning model to analyze the lightwaves to determine the presence of pesticides. With its sensor and processor, the prototype achieved a detection accuracy rate of greater than 85%, meeting the project’s objectives for effectiveness and speed.

Sirish plans to continue working on the prototype with a price-point goal of just $20 per device, and hopes to get it to market by the time he starts college.

As one of nine finalists in the competition, the boy, who attends middle school at the Gwinnett School of Math, Science, and Technology, spent the last four months working with one of the 3M scientists who mentor the kids one-on-one to help perfect their prototype.

During the final Challenge events at 3M global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, this month, Sirish secured the coveted title.

“I am beyond impressed and inspired by this year’s Young Scientist Challenge finalists who have demonstrated an incredible ability to develop creative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Torie Clarke, 3M’s chief public affairs officer.

MORE TERRIFIC TEEN INVENTORS: Teens Invent Device that Removes Microplastics with Ultrasound Waves, Winning $50k

With his favorite subjects being physics and engineering, his dream school is MIT, and plans to invest his winnings into his college tuition.

Watch his interview with the NY Stock Exchange, before he rang the opening bell of trading.

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