On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff announced the winners of the annual congressional science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) academic competition, the Congressional App Challenge, for the 28th Congressional District. The competition aims to foster an early interest and engagement in STEM education and technology by challenging students to develop an application, commonly known as an “app.”

Rohin Manvi from Crescenta Valley High School won first place for his app, Water Notifier, a device used to notify people in India when water is supplied by the Indian government. This is important for people in India because the government supplies water for two to four hours every four to seven days and people are not aware of when the water is supplied due to the absence of a fixed schedule and that it is rationed to small areas at different times.

The runners-up, also from Crescenta Valley High School, were Lyron Co Ting Keh for his ML-CaPre app and Shyla Summers, Claire Gantan, Emme Spero, and Brendan Hermann for their app, Habit Tracker.

Co Ting Keh’s app ML-CaPre is used to help doctors when they can’t distinguish what type of cancer a patient has, and thus, can’t implement an effective treatment plan. To make matters worse, a complex surgery to determine this would usually further weaken the patient. To address this problem, the app helps predict an individual’s cancer type with only a simple blood sample.

The Habit Tracker tracks and encourages healthy habits. It aids people in the success of their daily, weekly, and monthly goals. It helps busy people keep track of important tasks and improves their lifestyle.

The students were inspired to participate in this challenge by their teacher, Dr. Gregory Neat.

Honorable mention went to City of Burbank’s John Burroughs High School students Prajwal Tumkur Mahesh, Alexander Hirsch, Joshua Anthony Domantay, and Dominick Lee for their Quarterback Snap Timer (Team Project) app. David Hedin-Abreu, who is a proponent of STEM education, helped this team realize their app submission.

The app is a timer for a quarterback passing event in football, intended for coaches and judges. No other app times short-duration events to the hundredth second. Audible notification of starting and stopping provides accountability for student/non-professional timers who may not understand the rules.

“Students participating in this challenge never fail to impress me,” said Schiff. “The applications designed by these students are so clever, sophisticated and useful – they demonstrate the enormous creativity of young people in our community. They give me every confidence that the next generation will help to keep our country competitive in this technologically driven age. If this contest is any indication, we’ll have some amazing talent headed to Silicon Valley.”

Established by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, the competition is open to all high school students who live in or attend high school in the 28th Congressional District. High school students compete by creating and exhibiting their software application, or app, for mobile, tablet or computer devices on a platform of their choice.