Photo Courtesy of Rep. Meng’s Office
Rep. Meng congratulates Arun Budhoo (l) and Jashua Veerasammy for winning the congresswoman’s Congressional app contest.
By Forum Staff
Jashua Veerasammy and Arun Budhoo, juniors at Thomas Edison High School in Jamaica, have been selected as the winners of U.S. Rep. Grace Meng’s (D-Flushing) Congressional app contest, the congresswoman announced on Thursday.
Veerasammy and Budhoo, who are both 16 years of age, won for their app entitled “VIVID” which seeks to help people become motivated and confident in fitness and health. They believe that with obesity rates at the highest in the United States, people need motivation to exercise, and their app motivates users to go to the gym.
The competition consisted of entries from students at Queens middle schools and high schools and is part of the “Congressional App Challenge,” a nationwide contest held by the House of Representatives in which students compete by creating and exhibiting an app for mobile, tablet or computer devices.
Veerasammy and Budhoo – along with winners from app contests in Congressional districts throughout the country – will now be invited to showcase their apps to members of Congress and members of the tech community at #HouseOfCode, a special reception scheduled to take place on Capitol Hill next month. Their app is also eligible to be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol and on the House of Representatives’ official website: house.gov.
“I am proud to congratulate Jashua and Arun for winning my App Challenge,” Meng said. “I am extremely impressed at how these teens used their creativity and scientific minds to create and develop this impressive piece of work. Their efforts illustrate the outstanding tech skills that exist among Queens students and I salute their passion for technology and writing code. I look forward to welcoming them to Washington next month, and I applaud the talents of all the students who entered my competition.”
A total of 15 students from schools throughout Queens entered Meng’s contest. In addition to motivating people to go to the gym, apps included games, assisting those with autism and helping women locate shelters. All of the students who entered will receive a certificate of Congressional recognition, Meng noted.
Nationally, more than 4,100 students participated in the App Challenge and more than 1,270 student-created apps were submitted.
“We are deeply honored to have been chosen as the winners of Congresswoman Meng’s competition,” Veerasammy and Budhoo added. “We first entered the contest for fun, then got serious about creating an app that could make a difference in people’s lives. We brainstormed ideas for many hours, put our creativity to the test, and came-up with an app to help people be fit and healthy. We’re thankful that our hard work paid off and we are grateful to have had the inspiration of our shop teacher Kathleen Kuntz, and others from a competing team at our school. We’re extremely excited to showcase our work on Capitol Hill next month and we thank Congresswoman Meng for taking part in the Congressional App Challenge.”
The winners of Meng’s competition were selected by a panel of local judges who work within the academic, software and entrepreneurial fields.
