MedCentral wins Rep. Raul Ruiz’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 25th District
Rep. Raul Ruiz has named Layla Morales of Calipatria High School, Evelyn Torres-Martìnez of Calipatria High School, Alex Tang of Westview High School, and Chris Zheng of The Bishop’s School as the winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 25th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of MedCentral, the students said, “While our team was in the brainstorming stage, we tossed a few proposals around. We eventually came up with the medical app idea. Immediately we knew that this was our topic. In our district, we have seen a plethora of immigrants have diagnoses where they need various medications. As a team who has close relations to immigrants, we felt for them. When coming up with the functions, we gathered inspiration from family members. Our team member’s mother had a hard time reading in English, so we came up with a way to translate the instructions as well as having it read back to her. My parents have a hard time recording my sick grandmother’s symptoms, so we made a log feature to easily record this kind of information. When our other teammate was ill as a child, they had to be the one to explain how to use the medication. To prevent this situation from happening to other children, we created a feature that gives you instructions on how to receive medication. We hope to relieve some of the stress of being a first generation child or immigrant. We understand that it’s difficult to live in the United States when you speak little to no English. Helping these individuals is the true inspiration as to why we created this app.”
This year’s Congressional App Challenge set new records, with an unprecedented 382 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions—surpassing the previous high of 374. An incredible 12,682 students from across the country participated, representing a growth of over 1,000 students compared to 2023. These talented students submitted an astounding 3,881 original applications, showcasing their creativity, passion for technology, and the limitless potential of America’s next generation of innovators. This surge in participation reflects the increasing excitement around STEM and highlights a bright future for American innovation.
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 the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2025, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.