IntergenTEC wins Rep. Scott Fitzgerald’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Wisconsin’s Fifth District
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald has named Bharat Nambisan and Ashok Nambisan of Stanford Online High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Wisconsin’s Fifth District. Their app IntergenTEC is an online platform that connects older adults with teens and youths for intergenerational sessions.
When asked what inspired the creation of IntergenTEC, the students said, “The first reason is that intergenerational support has been proven to be an effective and meaningful way to combat loneliness and social isolation among older adults. As discussed in our video, the older adult population is rising rapidly, leading to an increasing caregiver burden. Social isolation among older adults has become a major concern. Through this app, we aim to encourage teens and youths to help address this issue by serving as caregivers on the platform.
“The second reason is that the app provides teens and youths with an efficient and meaningful way to earn valuable volunteer hours. Both of our team members are volunteer tutors at Schoolhouse.world, an online peer-tutoring platform. Within the Schoolhouse community, we noticed a strong drive and growing interest in finding more diverse online volunteer opportunities. With IntergenTEC, we hope to offer teens who are passionate about volunteering a way to make a meaningful impact on their communities.”
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.