BALTIMORE — Put your thinking caps on, it's time to get creative, at least that's the case for one young scientist. 3M and Discovery Education announced Sean Jiang from Gilman School in Baltimore as one of the top ten finalist from across the nation for the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
"I hope I can win, but I do have some pretty fierce competitors. I’m pretty excited for the final event though,” said Jiang.
It's a competition that encourages students from grades five through eight to use scientific thinking. The goal is to identify an everyday problem and submit a one to two minute video showing the science behind the solution he or she came up with.
14-year-old Jiang decided to help those who can't see.
"Blind people had a hard time navigating objects that are medium to far range. So I wanted to design something to give them a heads up on obstacles that may be incoming,” said Jiang.
His inspiration came from the powers of the auditory system.
"I learned in school that bats and whales they're able to use echolocation to help them navigate and just use their sense of hearing and I also saw on YouTube some very skilled blind people that use echolocation to help them navigate,” said Jiang.
Which made him think, why can't I do that? His creation uses a depth camera that can capture and scan the surroundings-- allowing it to detect how close objects are-- giving enough time to dodge it.
He started with a virtual simulation then made it a reality.
"The closer an object is the louder it’s going to sound. And the further away the more subtle it's going to sound. And I have specific sound affects for my left and my right and my center, and below,” said Jiang.
After a months of research, he found other programs similar to his idea, but what sets him aside from the rest is working in real time.
"They're alright at finding objects that are in close range, but I still want them to experience the world even fuller so they're able to see stuff that is much further away than their circle of reach,” said Jiang.
3M gives each finalist a scientist mentor throughout the summer and come October, the finalist will compete in person in Minneapolis for the title of "America’s Top Young Scientist" and a $25,000 prize.
While Jiang is still settling on a name for his design, he hopes his creativity will carry him into field of science for a career.
