Congressman Tom Cole today announced Ridwan Siddique, Rahil Pasha, Alexander Papavassiliou and Andrew Zhang from Norman North High School as the Fourth District of Oklahoma’s winners of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge.
The students’ app, called “Calorie Balance,” was created using JavaScript and is coded for use on iOS and Android devices. The app is designed for use in recording and tracking daily nutrition and exercise.
“I am delighted to congratulate this year’s winners of the Congressional App Challenge for Fourth Congressional District of Oklahoma,” said Cole. “Through their incredible knowledge and impressive coding skills, these students found a way to help people live healthier lifestyles by creating a new and unique way to track nutrition intake and exercise. They certainly have bright futures ahead of them and I look forward to seeing what they accomplish next.”
“We had a great time,” said the winners. “The challenge motivated us to learn new techniques to build the user interface for our app.”
A video demonstration of the app can be found here.
Background on the Congressional App Challenge:
Launched by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, the Congressional App Challenge each year invites students to create an application (“app”) for desktop/PC, web, tablet, mobile, raspberry Pi or other devices using any programming language – such as C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby or “block code.” It is designed to foster engagement and educational growth in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) among middle and high school students. The competition is open to all students who meet the eligibility requirements, regardless of their coding experience.
Winners from each district receive an invitation to the #HouseOfCode reception, currently scheduled for April 2024, as well as have their app displayed in the U.S. Capitol building, on House.gov and on CongressionalAppChallenge.us for one year. Students will also receive a formal Certificate of Achievement, acknowledging victory in the 2023 Congressional App Challenge, and an ARTS Act Copyright Waiver, to have registration fees waived if they choose to copyright their creation.
