Sandy Springs, G.A. – Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Marietta) has announced the winners of Georgia’s Sixth District Congressional App Challenge. The App Challenge invites middle and high school students to design and execute original apps, inspiring young students and communities who are historically underrepresented in computer science to explore STEM.

 

“We received so many creative submissions to this year’s challenge,” said McBath. “These talented young students demonstrate the enthusiasm for computer science in our communities, and the great impact STEM education can have on young people and our world. It was wonderful to meet so many students at the ceremony, and I’m so proud of their hard work to develop technology that makes a difference.”

 

Participants were honored in a recent ceremony at Sewell Mill Library in Marietta. In first place, Bill Sun’s XMalaria provides a means of diagnosing malaria from images of thin blood smears in a free-to-use web application. Users can submit a thin blood smear image and the app uses deep learning to determine whether cells in the image are infected by the malaria parasite. Bill attends George Walton Comprehensive High School.

 

In second place, Stim Soothe, created by Aditya Bora and Mehul Kalia, employs a wearable device to identify and stop particular physical actions, called stimming behaviors, that may be harmful to people with autism. The device administers soothing vibrations when certain motions are detected. Both Aditya and Mehul attend Johns Creek High School.

 

In third place, Divya Nori’s iSense uses a chatbot to detect possible mood disorders in teens and encourage healthy steps towards recovery, while including a way for parents to address mental illness with their families. Divya attends Milton High School.

 

XMalaria will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol and at the #HouseofCode reception in Washington, D.C. later this year.