Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website 3M Names America's Top Young Scientist of 2021: 14-Year-Old Sarah Park, for Music Therapy Treatment to Improve Mental Health
ottobre 22, 2021 - 3m

3M Names America's Top Young Scientist of 2021: 14-Year-Old Sarah Park, for Music Therapy Treatment to Improve Mental Health

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

14-year-old #samarthmahapatra Wins Improving Lives Award at This Year's #3m Young Scientist Challenge

ST. PAUL, Minn. and SILVER SPRING, Md., Oct. 20, 2021 -- 3M (@3M) and Discovery Education(@DiscoveryEd) have named 14-year-old Sarah Park from Jacksonville, Fla. the winner of the 2021 3M Young Scientist Challenge (#YoungScientist), the nation's premier middle school #science competition. Sarah created Spark Care+, an innovation that personalizes music therapy treatment for mental #health improvement using artificial intelligence (AI), skin response (GSR) and photoplethysmography (PPG). As the 3M Young Scientist Challenge grand #prize winner, Sarah received a $25,000 cash #prize, the prestigious title of "America's Top Young Scientist," and a special destination trip.

"The 3M Young Scientist Challenge aligns with 3M's commitment to fostering the next generation of #science leaders, and exemplifies how a quality STEM education can get young #people interested and excited about #science as a way to improve lives all around the world," said Dr. Denise Rutherford, senior vice president and chief #corporate affairs officer at 3M. "Against the backdrop of an ongoing global pandemic, the 3M Young Scientist Challenge finalists have each shown how grit, determination, resiliency, innovative thinking, and the scientific process come together to create truly incredible innovations with the potential to address major global challenges. 3M is inspired by these young inventors, and we celebrate their accomplishments. Congratulations to this year's winner, Sarah Park, and to all our 3MYoung Scientist Challenge finalists. We thank you for inspiring us through your efforts."  

The global pandemic has had a profound impact on mental #health – negatively affecting millions of #people and creating new barriers for #people already suffering from mental #health disorders. For her project, Sarah developed SparkCare+ as an efficient, affordable, portable, and personalized music therapy for mental #health improvement. SparkCare+ is made up of two components: a communication with the participant, and a mechanism that uses deep neural networks to select therapeutic music.

The communication component of SparkCare+ asks the participant questions and elaborates on the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression rating scales, providing insight for the AI. Sarah used Arduino (an open-source electronic prototyping platform) so a PPG sensor could gauge indicators regarding the participant's mental state, including their heart rate and blood pressure. The GSR sensor is an additional tool Sarah developed to indicate mental state, and to provide the AI the necessary information to pick suitable music for the participant and sense progress. Sarah envisions developing personalized wristbands for all interests and ages, so that anyone seeking improvement in mental #health can be treated with Spark Care+.

The 3M Young Scientist Challenge also named 14-year-old Samarth Mahapatra from Marietta, Ga. as the recipient of the Improving Lives Award, a special recognition award based on online public voting to choose the final project from the challenge that has the greatest potential to make a positive impact on the world. Inspired by his great aunt who had to give up cooking due to glaucoma-induced blindness, Samarth's project, "Accessibility Friendly Guidance System for Optimal Cooking Operations based on Machine Learning," deployed edge computing and advance vision algorithms to help #people with vision impairments cook with ease. 

Now in its fourteenth year, the 2021 3M Young Scientist Challenge hosted the two-day competition as a virtual event on Oct. 18 and 19, 2021. #sarahpark, an eighth-grader at Bolles School – Bartram in Jacksonville, Fla. at the time of entry, competed against nine other finalists. Each finalist was evaluated through a series of interactive, virtual challenges and the final presentation of their innovation. These ten young inventors, aged 12 to 14, won the top spots in this year's challenge through their innovative thinking, scientific acumen, and exceptional communication skills. 

Over the past few months, each 3M Young Scientist Challenge finalist worked with a 3M scientist who mentored and worked one-on-one with them to transform their idea from concept to physical prototype. Sarah Park was paired with Dr. Ann Fornof, a senior research specialist in the adhesives division at 3M.

All ten 3M Young Scientist Challenge finalists received a variety of prizes from 3M and #discoveryeducation. The grand #prize winner received a $25,000 cash #prize, the prestigious title of "America's Top Young Scientist," and a special destination trip. The second and third place winners each received a $1,000 prize and a special destination trip.

Further information in the press release to download

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