Free Mind Bot wins Rep. Bill Posey’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s Eighth District
Rep. Posey has named Madhumita Subbiah, a 12th grader at Westshore Jr/Sr High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s Eighth District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Free Mind Bot, the student said, “Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a peer from my AP Computer Science class revealed her struggle with depression and shared experiencing thoughts of suicide. Learning this, I was deeply saddened by my failure to recognize her distress earlier. As I delved deeper into understanding her depression and the troubling thoughts, I realized there could have been a way to prevent this. Witnessing a friend endure such challenges motivated me to create a technological solution to aid not just her but others in similar situations.
In response, I developed a chatbot application aimed at detecting signs of mental health issues. This app monitors various cues, including the use of keywords associated with mental illness, changes in voice patterns, and facial expressions, to provide early identification and support.”
This year’s Challenge saw an unprecedented level of participation, with 374 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions, surpassing the previous record of 340. A remarkable 11,334 students from across the United States competed in this year’s Challenge, marking an impressive increase of nearly 1,000 participants compared to the previous record set in 2019. The enthusiasm and creativity these students display is a testament to the growing interest in technology and signal a bright future for American innovation. The surge of ingenuity continued with a whopping 3,645 original applications flooding in, nearly a thousand more than the previous year’s high. This remarkable growth showcases the exceptional talent and innovation within our nation’s youth.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. This resounding show of bipartisan support emphasizes the critical importance of STEM education in today’s rapidly evolving world. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during our annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2024, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.