Companion Catch wins Rep. Jeff Jackson’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in North Carolina’s 14th District
Rep. Jackson has named Duc Tuan Nguyen, an 11th grader at Providence High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in North Carolina’s 14th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Companion Catch, the student said, “The drive to develop this app came from both personal encounters and concerning data about falls in the elderly population. My volunteer work at a nearby senior home exposed me to some seniors who had faced injuries from unattended falls. A personal memory that deeply affected me was witnessing my grandmother’s fall in the kitchen while cooking. Thankfully, I was present to help and call for emergency services immediately. These personal encounters were underscored by the fact that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are the leading cause of injury and injury death among older adults in the United States. In 2020 alone, over one in four older adults (age 65+) experienced a fall, amounting to over 36 million reported falls. These falls led to 3 million older adults being treated in emergency departments, with over 800,000 hospitalizations, primarily due to head injuries or hip fractures, and tragically resulted in more than 32,000 deaths. Recognizing the profound impact of these statistics and my firsthand experiences, I felt an urgent need for a reliable system that could detect falls in real-time and alert caregivers or family members. Thus, Companion Catch was born, aiming to bridge this gap, using technology as a safety net to provide timely intervention during these vulnerable moments.”
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.