REP LIEU HONORS WINNERS OF ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE
LOS ANGELES - On Tuesday, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) virtually hosted his congressional district's seventh-annual Congressional App Challenge and fifth-annual reception for the Challenge. Twenty-six students from fourteen high schools submitted fifteen apps for this year's competition. The winners, Hemosoo Woo and Mincheol Song of Palisades Charter High School, submitted an app entitled "AtaxiaV: Quantitative Assessment and Treatment System for Ataxia on the cloud." The winning app performs a quantitative assessment and treatment system for Ataxia, a degenerative nervous system disease caused by damage to the cerebellum. The judges believed that this app was unique in concept by addressing a specific disease, diagnosing it, and providing therapy for it. They were highly impressed with the advanced looking machine learning algorithms.
The Congressional App Challenge, a competition aimed at encouraging U.S. high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications, is open to all middle and high school students who either reside or attend school in California's 33rd Congressional District. The first place winner's app is eligible to be featured in the U.S. Capitol Building and House.gov. Additionally, the winner is invited to the #HouseOfCode DC Reception.
"As a recovering Computer Science major, I am inspired by all these students who have committed themselves to creating innovative apps that address communication, cybersecurity, housing, medical diagnoses and treatment, food insecurity, and more," Congressman Lieu said. "Our office sees growth every year in the number of apps submitted. I am proud to represent a district that is the home to Silicon Beach, as well as Santa Monica College, LA Air Force Base, and UCLA, all of which emphasize the importance of STEM innovation and education."
Below are the winners of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge:
- 1st Place: "AtaxiaV: Quantitative Assessment and Treatment System for Ataxia on the cloud", by Hemosoo Woo and Mincheol Song – Palisades Charter High School
- 2nd Place: "Noteworthy", submitted by Brandon Kirbyson and Tobin Palmer – Santa Monica High School
- 3rd Place: "GreenCheck - The Sustainability Calculator", submitted by Kate North, Samantha Chang, Brianna Adewinmbi, and Leoni Sayat – Online School and California Academy of Math and Science
- Honorable Mention for Concept: "Our Pantry", submitted by Cameron Asher, Gregory Forston, Suhh Yeon Kim, and Andrew Galen – Beverly Hills High School
- Honorable Mention for Skill: "Housing Options Made Efficient (H.O.M.E.)", submitted by Lauren McLane - The Hotchkiss School
Judges for the 2022 Congressional App Challenge include:
- Dr. William Goodin, Industry Relations Coordinator at UCLA Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
- Mr. Marc Fischer, CEO at Dogtown Media
- Mr. Howard Stahl, Department Chair for Computer Science & Information Systems at Santa Monica College
- Ms. Wenting Zhao, Technical Program Manager at Snap Inc.