CoFIS: Community-Oriented Flood Information System wins Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Iowa’s First District
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks has named Kento Sugiyama of Iowa City West High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Iowa’s First District. Their app CoFIS: Community-Oriented Flood Information System is a web-based application for scenario-based flood inundation mapping and impact analysis.
When asked what inspired the creation of CoFIS: Community-Oriented Flood Information System, Kento Sugiyama said, “I was motivated by the technical challenge of using client-side technologies for hydrology and community water science. Browser-based computation has advanced significantly in recent years, and I was interested in testing the limits of client-side processing for complex tasks such as geospatial analysis.
“This also reflected my interest in connecting state-of-the-art web technologies with practical applications. Growing up in Iowa, I have seen how damaging floods are in affecting communities. I wanted to design something that could make water science more accessible to those who need it.”
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.