BreatheEasy wins Rep. Josh Harder’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in California’s Ninth District
Rep. Josh Harder has named Sravya Bayaneni and Alexandra Popusoi of Mountain House High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in California’s Ninth District. Their app BreatheEasy is an asthma management app that helps users track their symptoms, log medications, monitor air quality, and make informed decisions about when it’s safe to exercise or go outside.
When asked what inspired the creation of BreatheEasy, the students said, “We both have asthma, and have had to make sacrifices in sports and other activities because we were never able to manage it properly. Asthma is a major issue that people all over the world face, regardless of age, and it continuously causes kids to have to miss sports, school, and other major events occurring in their life. However, the problem is that people aren’t taught how to manage it. Nurses typically send kids home if they have problems with asthma, and people may unknowingly go out to places where the air quality is very poor. The problem of asthma not being addressed properly inspired us to create our own app that would help people all over the world struggling with it. BreatheEasy was meant to help both kids and adults by having an easy-to-use resource ready for them 24/7 to log symptoms, track medications, access resources, and even play engaging games. We were inspired by the issue that we noticed in our community, which prompted us to create a solution that is able to help nationwide.”
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.