Hudson Connect wins Rep. Patrick Ryan’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New York’s 18th District.
Rep. Patrick Ryan has named Aarna Patel of Newburgh Free Academy Main Campus as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New York’s 18th District. Their app Hudson Connect is designed to be a community-focused app that helps residents of New York’s 18th Congressional District easily access local resources and services.
When asked what inspired the creation of Hudson Connect, Aarna Patel said, “I was inspired to create Hudson Connect due to the significant decrease in local support over the years. My goal was to make local support more noticeable and accessible. In many communities, essential services like food, transport, health clinics, or even transportation can be hard to find. I wanted to build an app that would combat these difficulties and be able to reach all, to foster connection and reduce barriers.”
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.