Sarah Park ’25, named 3M and America’s Top Young Scientist of 2021, virtually rang the New York Stock Exchange’s closing bell at 4 p.m. on Thursday, November 12.

Park’s Spark Care+ music therapy treatment project garnered her the $25,000 grand prize in 3M’s Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge this fall. The bell-ringing honor was part of her title honor as the company’s top young scientist.

Park joined 3M representatives and the rest of the world via her laptop from Staman Lobby in Bolles Hall. She cheered and clapped for about a minute, taking in the moment! Enjoy the video here.

The celebration concludes a months-long competition featuring the work of student-scientists in grades 5-8 from all over the country. Last spring, students submitted their ideas to help solve everyday problems and improve lives around the world. Judges selected 10 student projects, including Park’s, as national finalists and competitors worked throughout the summer – with the help of a 3M scientist mentor – to bring their innovative ideas to life, according to a 3M description.

Called Spark Care +, Park’s project is a personalized music therapy treatment for mental health disorders that uses artificial intelligence, galvanic skin response and photoplethysmography. Park, an accomplished violinist who has performed in Carnegie Hall and won many state and national-level awards for her musicianship, worked with 3M Senior Research Specialist in Polymer Science & Adhesives Dr. Ann Fornof on her research and application.

The final daylong event October 18 that included two intensive challenges judged by seven different scientists and educators. On October 19, Park shared her final presentation and participated in a question and answer session. The awards presentation was held later in the evening.

To read more about Park’s Spark Care + project and the competition, visit the 3M Young Scientist Lab competition website here.