CogniPro wins Rep. Mark DeSaulnier’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 10th District
Rep. DeSaulnier has named Sania Bidurukontam, an 11th grader at Dougherty Valley High School as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 10th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of CogniPro, the student said, “Recently, my sister was diagnosed with ADHD (the inattentive subtype) and a few of her friends also had similar experiences of being diagnosed at a late age. As I continued researching ADHD, I was shocked to see how every mental health professional’s approach to recognizing ADHD symptoms was completely different. The diagnostic process differs from person to person, with different questions and scales being used. Some mental health specialists conduct interviews with parents or teachers, but some merely require self reporting of symptoms.
In addition, these diagnostic methods are often very subjective. I read a research article about a study consisting of over 400 psychologists diagnosing ADHD in children, and they committed more than 15% false positives and 20% false negatives. Another example of subjectivity in ADHD diagnosis was shown through a study revealing that younger women provided higher scores than older men. Overall, there are just an abundance of factors that can impact the diagnostic process that are beyond one’s control. I knew that I wanted to contribute to this area of research by taking steps towards providing concrete data to support ADHD symptom assessment, and making it as accessible as possible through a mobile app.”
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.