Meet Alumni:

Prince Nallamothula

2024 3M Young Scientist Challenge Finalist
2026 Alumni Grant Recipient

Prince was awarded the New Idea to Improve the World Grant for his work on “QuantumShield,” an innovative, low-cost safety system that uses advanced sensing and machine learning to detect concealed hazardous items while preserving privacy and reducing security bottlenecks.

About their Project

QuantumShield is a low-cost quantum sensing magnetometer for concealed hazardous item detection. The system uses nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond to detect magnetic field variations through Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance (ODMR). A green laser excites the NV centers and produces red fluorescence that changes measurably with the introduction of ferromagnetic particles found in weapons. This change in ODMR is caused by the Zeeman-Splitting Effect. A machine learning classifier processes these ODMR sweep changes and distinguishes threats from everyday objects like phones, laptops, and keys with over 90% accuracy on test data. Unlike metal detectors, the system does not create long lines at entrances, can detect through clothes, and unlike cameras, preserves everyone’s privacy.

I have built a working prototype for under $1,000 compared to commercial quantum sensors costing $50,000 to $200,000. So far, I have validated the ODMR signal detection, developed the full ML classification pipeline, and tested the system using simulated data. With the 3M Alumni Grant, I plan to improve sensor sensitivity with higher-quality diamond samples, upgrade the optical setup, expand the ML training dataset, and begin real-world testing in a safe environment.

What was the inspiration behind your project?

The inspiration for my project stemmed from a real threat that was sent directly to the students at my school this year. It allowed me to realize the challenges and limitations that school security today faces and the increasing frequency of fatal weapon events in schools.