Congratulations to AiC Community Members Recognized in the 2018 Congressional App Challenge

The Congressional App Challenge (CAC) is a nationwide programming competition designed to encourage and inspire middle and high school students to explore STEM fields. The Challenge was established in 2013 with the passage of House Resolution 77, and the first competition took place in 2015. In this Challenge, students work individually or in teams to create an original application for any computing platform, using any coding language. One winning app is chosen for each U.S. Congressional district. Each winning app may be put on display in the U.S. Capitol Building for one year.

In 2018, 47 Aspirations in Computing Community members were among those recognized in the Congressional App Challenge! Together, these community members contributed to a total of 34 winning apps. Read on to learn more about their creative ideas, and click the links in each listing to view the inspiring videos submitted by the participants. 

ARIZONA

AiC Community Member Esha Sidhu created the High School Time Management App to help students stay organized while navigating their many school assignments and extracurricular commitments.

AiC Community Members Madeline Tribolet, Tessa Gaynor, and Fiona Donovan, along with teammate Ryan Gardner, designed the N.O.W. News app to identify and alert readers to biases and propaganda that might be present in news sources.

CALIFORNIA

AiC Community Member Reva Jariwala’s BrightPath app helps users identify the best route for safe, sustainable, eco-friendly pedestrian commuting.

AiC Community Member Gianna Yan developed an app called @bay to foster civic engagement and encourage voting among young people.

When wildfires impacted her region, AiC Community Member Lauren Wong realized that people who wanted to help didn’t always know where their contributions would be most effective. She created the DoNation app to match donors with approved charities.

In the Santa Barbara Highlights app, AiC Community Members Joy Patterson and Karleigh Dehlsen, and teammates Gabrielle Englese and Madeline Rogers, share insider knowledge of their city’s best attractions with tourists visiting the area.

eyeTime, an app developed by AiC Community Member Sally Lei, aims to combat eye strain by making it easier for users to practice good viewing habits with digital media.

AiC Community Member Marleni Angel worked with teammates Tacorrie Cleveland and Cesar Hernandez to design Volunteer Log, an app that makes it easy for both volunteers and organizations track the number of hours being contributed.

CONNECTICUT

The Test Driver’s ED app, created by AiC Community Member Isabel Lindsay and teammate Justin Diaz, is a driving simulation that uses virtual reality to let users practice road safety skills and prepare for their driver’s exam.

FLORIDA

AiC Community Member Andrea Sanchez teamed up with Jasmine Chen, Charles DePlato, and Dennis Ding to build WeBot, an AI assistant that specializes in helping prospective students and parents find answers to their questions when they’re looking for a new school.

IOWA

FastLane, an app designed by AiC Community Member Kristen Stone along with teammates Owen Scott, Arya Karnik, and Sean Eastman, assists students and others who rely on buses for transportation by notifying users about delays or changes in their regular bus routes.

IDAHO

AiC Community Member Crista Falk’s Budget App offers tools to help people of all ages manage their monthly finances.

ILLINOIS

Chi Trip, created by AiC Community Member Gabrielle Chang, provides information about Chicago’s tourist destinations and lets visitors plan their itinerary by saving their favorites.

The friendly EsteemBeam app was developed by AiC Community Members Shagun Varma, Maya Ostrowski, and Stephanie Kim, along with teammate Julia Delgado, to send supportive daily messages to users who are struggling with self esteem issues.

KENTUCKY

Learn Your Sounds! is a children’s matching game programmed by AiC Community Member Jay Tucker, in which players connect nature sounds with the appropriate picture.

MARYLAND

AiC Community Member Destini Brown’s app, How Are You Feeling 2.0, includes multiple tools to help children learn to identify their feelings and improve their emotional well being.

AiC Community Member Marie Brodsky teamed up with her brother Joseph Brodsky and their friend Suveena Sreenilayam to build Time Flies, a mobile app that helps people with dyslexia plan their schedules by showing how much time their activities will take - without using numbers.

NEBRASKA

S.O.S.S., also known as Saving Our School Spirit, is an app created by AiC Community Members Alexis Moline, Samantha Tracy, and Lily Blake that lets users search for school sporting events in their area, buy tickets, and earn points for for checking in.

NEW JERSEY

The sPeach app, developed by AiC Community Member Natalia Luzuriaga and her teammate Leon Xie, uses voice recognition software to help hearing impaired people and English language learners practice their pronunciation.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

With The Electoral College Map, an app designed by AiC Community Member Leah Marville, users can simulate presidential elections and see how each state’s results impact the final outcome.

NEVADA

AiC Community Member Denielle Oliva worked with teammates Joshua Knight, Elijah Bouchard, and Colton Jacobson to build the ReCircle app, which provides a platform for students to lend and borrow used items.

NEW YORK

Aduenam, an app developed by AiC Community Members Leilei Hao and Kamille Tipan, raises awareness about the impact of immigration policies and lets immigrants in the US connect with one another through discussion groups.

OHIO

Car Road Drivers is a quiz game designed by AiC Community Members Kaitlyn Scheutzow and KaraBeth Nemet to help new drivers commit the rules of the road to memory.

AiC Community Members Layton Rosenfeld and Natalie Dodson, and teammate Audrey Daniels, created The JonApp, an intuitive, visual-based task management program geared toward people with developmental disabilities.

PENNSYLVANIA

AiC Community Member Katherine Wang’s LabraDoodle app lets chemistry students get familiar with common lab experiments through interactive simulations.

TEXAS

AiC Community Member Aya Abdelgawad designed the Just Breathe app using animation and scheduled reminders to help users relax and reduce stress.

AP GO POW! by AiC COmmunity Member Mridula Shan is a test-prep app that helps students get ready to ace the AP Government and Politics exam.

AiC Community Members Norah Rami and Sofie Marino built the See and Say app to help combat human trafficking in their city by offering a user-friendly platform for people to report suspected instances of trafficking.

AiC Community Member Victoria Garza’s app Daily Write is a journaling program that gets users writing by providing a multitude of optional prompts for each day.

UTAH

In The Secrets of Barcodes, a mobile game by AiC Members Kaylie Hollander, Caroline Jarman, and Jenna Mills and teammate Zachary Denna, any barcode can reveal an amusing message for the player.

WASHINGTON

The Fin-damentals of Fish Care, by AiC Community Members Ojasvi Kamboj and Annika Epperly, is a kid-friendly app that helps users learn and schedule the various tasks involved in taking care of a goldfish.

AiC Community Member Archika Dogra and teammate Claire Kung developed the Vigilant! app to combat sexual violence by allowing users to easily alert contacts and request assistance if they find themselves in an unsafe situation.

Everyday Care is an app by AiC Community Member Smriti Somasundaram that helps children with autism spectrum disorders learn essential daily routines while also allowing parents to track vital data about their child’s care needs.

WYOMING

AiC Community Member Teaghen Sweckard, together with teammates Addysen Sweckard, Shelbi Kovar, Georgia Wages, and Seren Chapin, designed the Meals on Wheels app to simplify, streamline, and clarify delivery routes for volunteers with the Meals on Wheels organization.