14-year-old who invented device to detect pesticides on produce named America’s Top Young Scientist

Have you ever wondered if your produce is washed properly? " America's Top Young Scientist " has a solution for that.

Sirish Subash , an ninth grader from Snellville, Georgia , was the first-place winner for the 3M and Discovery Education competition, the nation’s premier middle school science competition, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In his presentation, Subash used data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that said 70.6% of produce items contain pesticide residues .

The lingering residues can lead to certain health problems like brain cancer, leukemia, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson’s Disease, Subash said.

“My project is called PestiSCAND. What it is, is the device that allows everybody to check for pesticide residues on their produce at home,” Subash told USA TODAY. “The pesticide residues are a contaminant that's commonly found on produce items."

To test PestiSCAND's effectiveness, Subash used the AI-based handheld pesticide detector to identify pesticide residues on spinach and tomatoes. The device had an accuracy rate greater than 85% which met the project's objectives for effectiveness and speed, according to 3M.

"The residues can stay on produce after washing, and that's where they've been connected to a variety of health issues," he said. "If we could detect them, we could avoid consuming them. We could reduce the risk of those health issues.”

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What is the 'America's Top Young Scientist' competition?

For 17 years, the “America's Top Young Scientist” competition has highlighted the projects of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students who utilize innovative ways that capture 3M’s mission.

“At 3M we are all about finding amazing people who bring innovation and creativity to producing products that really change lives, tackling hard problems and changing and improving people's lives,” Torie Clarke, 3M’s EVP and Chief Public Affairs Officer told USA TODAY. “This competition is the epitome of it. It is absolutely the epitome of that people, products and purpose, mission that we have.”

“We consider ourselves so fortunate to be a part of this competition (to) identify these young people,” Clarke adds.

Clarke explains that each year hundreds of students submit applications to be a part of the competition. In June, 10 finalists are chosen and given the opportunity to be mentored by a 3M scientist. For four months, the student and their mentor will work together virtually before they head to the competition in Minnesota. During the competition, the projects are judged based on creativity, communication, and ingenuity.

The winner gets to take home a $25,000 prize. However, Clarke says that many of the participants go on to create patents, start companies and are named 30 under 30. In addition, Clarke said that two of their competitors were named TIME Magazine's Kid of the Year . One of them was Herman Bekele , last year’s winner, who invented a $.50 bar of soap to treat skin cancer.

“He's 15 years old, and he is working with a professor at Johns Hopkins on some things,” she said. “They go on to do amazing things.”

Every year, Clarke admires the hard work, collaboration, dedication, and projects that the students bring to the competition.

“It really is fantastic,” she said. “For us and for these finalists, it is all about amazing people producing really important products to change people's lives.”

What prizes did the winners receive?

Not only did Subash earn the title of "America's Top Young Scientist" after competing on Oct. 14 and Oct. 15, he also received a $25,000 cash prize for his big win.

Here are the second and third-place winners:

• In second place, Minula Weerasekera , a ninth grader from Beaverton, Oregon, developed a solution for storing energy for longer through organic compounds and a sulfur-based terhiophene, 3M announced.
• William Tan , an eighth grader from Scarsdale, New York, claimed third place and developed an AI Smart Artificial Reef that encourages coral, seashells, kelp, and other marine life to grow in a safe and controlled environment, 3M said.

The second and third place winners will receive $2,000. The fourth through tenth place winners received a $1,000 prize and a $500 gift card, 3M said.

Sirish Subash’s PestiSCAND invention

Subash said that his project was originally a device on its own. However, he worked to create a much smaller device that would be easier to carry around and connect wirelessly to Bluetooth.

Although he has completed many trials, Subash believes that PestiSCAND will be a helpful tool, he does not think we should put an end to washing our produce.

“I would recommend, like going through a rinse. The idea is, after you wash your produce, you can see if it's really clean , " he said. " It's not to replace washing, but rather to help with ensuring that the produce is truly clean.”

Subash was inspired by the last year's ‘America's Top Young Scientist’ winner

Subash was always interested in STEM, but he became interested in the 3M competition when he saw a previous winner.

“This has been a dream of mine for quite a bit,” he said. “When I was much younger, I heard about this when Gitanjali Rao was TIME’s Kid of the Year. And at that point I heard about the 3M’s (young) scientists challenge, When I heard about it, I got really interested in it.”

After his win, Subash has some advice for STEM students and everyone else who has a dream they wish to accomplish.

“Anything that you want to work on in life, just find something you're really passionate about,” he said. “Because if you care about what you're working with, you can do a lot better and it just drives you to put the effort in.”

This article has been updated to fix a misspelling / typo.

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com . Follow her on Instagram , Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 14-year-old who invented device to detect pesticides on produce named America’s Top Young Scientist