Empathy & Technology for Real-World Solutions

Michael is a rising senior who received the Korea Talent Award 2025 for integrating music and technology to develop intuitive, accessible music lessons and composition tools. He is one of 40 high school students and 60 university students in Korea awarded the prize. Here he shares his inspiration and process.

---

I applied for the Korea Talent Award after reflecting on how two of my main interests in music and technology came together in a surprising way. For a long time I viewed coding simply as something closer to problem solving or a way to create fun projects, and music as just a creative hobby. But over the last few years, I've learned that technology is at its absolute best when used as a tool for empathy. This is a concept known as digital humanism.

My passion for digital humanism was actually manifested by a social issue that I became very passionate about in a course of unexpected events. In tenth grade when I was playing the violin in a charity orchestra at a small care home for neurodivergent people, a man from the audience got up from his seat and started dancing with absolute joy. I had never seen anyone react to music like that before. The beauty and harmony of his expression prompted me to dive deeper into music education access for  people with neurodevelopmental disorders in South Korea. I was disappointed to learn that their education often does not include much music education. I wanted to address that. What could I design to meet the musical needs of a specific population? And how? 

Empathy and Technology for Real-World Solutions 

My school environment definitely gave me the foundation for a mindset that appreciates the role of empathy in technology. In Ms. Pereira's AP Computer Science and Programming classes we were encouraged to use design thinking to tackle real-world problems. In particular, she emphasized empathy: identifying the true needs of the stakeholders. 

That first experience in the care home got me thinking about neurodiversity. I decided to focus on serving people in my own age group. So I read research papers, conducted my own research on the relationship between music and neurodivergent individuals, and participated in Stanford’s Neurodiversity Project camp for high schoolers to better understand the population. 

Coding is the most powerful when it’s used to make sure no one gets left behind.

To explore how technology could make music more accessible, I launched a virtual youth ensemble called Bandaid with my friend Jayden. We brought high school musicians together from four different countries to collaborate and share remote performances online. Seeing people from completely different backgrounds connect through a digital platform made me realize how much technology can democratize art. 

Making Music Intuitive 

All my learning from exploration and experimentation combined to become the very project that ultimately means the most to me. Volunteering as a program leader at the Evergreen Tree Welfare Center, I designed a music composition curriculum for youth with developmental disorders. It was a massive challenge to translate complex musical concepts into intuitive digital tools but seeing those students create and showcase their own original pieces was incredibly fulfilling. 

Winning the Korea Talent Award is an amazing honor. My work confirms the role of empathy in technology. The design process gives me confidence to problem solve for other situations and work with different populations. Perhaps the real highlight of this journey was finding my purpose. I learned one really important fact about who I am. I am a designer who designs meaningfully.