Sirish Subash
America’s Top Young Scientist (Grand Prize winner) of the 2024 3M Young Scientist Challenge at age 14 — announced by 3M / PRNewswire (Oct 16, 2024).
What they built
At age 13, Sirish Subash invented PestiSCAND — a handheld AI-powered pesticide residue detector for everyday consumers. Using spectrophotometry to measure light wavelengths reflected off produce, paired with a machine learning model, the device identifies harmful pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables in seconds with over 85% accuracy. The project was self-initiated after Sirish questioned why washing produce matters and discovered that pesticide residues can persist through multiple washes and are linked to serious health issues. He later built on PestiSCAND to develop PlastiSeek, a related handheld device that detects microplastics in water. He won the $25,000 Grand Prize at the 2024 3M Young Scientist Challenge ('America's Top Young Scientist').
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