RightRide wins Rep. Bryan Steil’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Wisconsin’s First District
Rep. Bryan Steil has named Sonakshi Giri of Franklin High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Wisconsin’s First District. Their app RightRide estimates a user’s blood alcohol (BAC) content based on age, sex, weight, and drinking activity using data from the World Health Organization and information from producers of alcoholic beverages.
When asked what inspired the creation of RightRide, Sonakshi Giri said, “From middle school to freshman year, I was in Volition Youth, a program meant to encourage adolescents not to engage in substance use. Throughout different projects, we were often told (or overheard) about fatalities in our community (involving children younger than ourselves) surrounding drunk driving. What stuck with me was that most of us (many high schoolers, who had a license), including me, had little to no concept of ‘how much’ alcohol made it not okay to drive. Guesses ranged from ‘3 sips’ to ’20 drinks’ (I, very confidently, guessed 15 drinks. So close, only like 12 off.) We also had almost no idea how long it took the alcohol to leave our system, past ‘when you feel better’; this inspired RightRide, because it can be very easy to convince yourself that you ‘haven’t had that much’ and you’re ‘fine’; That’s a much harder to do when there’s a big red stop sign on the screen telling you you’re above the legal limit.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.