Congressional App Challenge

It is with great enthusiasm that Congresswoman Speier announces her office’s participation in the annual Congressional App Challenge. This competition is designed to engage students’ creativity and encourage participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. As the Representative for the hotbed of innovation that is Silicon Valley, she firmly supports investment in STEM education through initiatives like this and legislation like H.R. 2426, the Educating Tomorrow's Engineers Act, of which she is a proud cosponsor. We must prepare our students for competitive employment in the high-tech industry and enhance American competitiveness in the global economy.

2019 winner Manya Goutam from San Mateo High School created the “Brain Buggy,” a mind-controlled robotic wheel chair designed to help paralyzed military veterans move around.

Authorized by House Resolution 77 and based on the Congressional Art Competition held since 1982, this competition is a nationwide event that allows high school students from across the country to compete by creating and exhibiting their software application, or “app,” for mobile, tablet, or computer devices on a platform of their choice. Winning participants will have their apps displayed in the US Capitol.”

The competition steps are below

1: Check Your Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in the Congressional App Challenge, you must fulfill the following requirements:

  • You must reside or attend school in the district.
  • There is no age minimum, but students are not allowed to participate after they’ve graduated from high school.
  • If you are competing in a team: at least two of the students on your team must reside or attend high school in the district in which you are competing.
  • If you created an app for a separate project or program, you are welcome to submit that app, as long as it was created within the last calendar year, and fulfills the rest of the requirements.

2: Register on CongressionalAppChallenge.us

Within 3 business days of registering, you will receive an email from studentsupport@congressionalappchallenge.us with your/your team’s Submission ID Number. Registration should take about 10 minutes. You will need to know:

  • Your home’s 9-digit zip code
  • Your school’s 9-digit zip code
  • The name of your Member of Congress, your state, and district number you reside in (you will need this information for all teammates)

3: Create your Submission

Once your app is done, you have to create a complete submission which includes:

A Demonstration video (1-3) minutes

  • This should explain the purpose of your app, explain who your intended audience is, mention what tools and languages you used in creating your app, and then show how to use your app.
  • Once you create your video, upload it to youtube, vimeo, or any video-hosting site and set it to public so the judges can see it.

You also need to answer the following questions:

  • Short description: What is your app trying to accomplish and why? (350 characters max.)
  • What’s a difficulty you faced in programming your app and how did you overcome it? (1500 characters max.)
  • What improvements would you make if you were going to create a version 2.0 of your app? (750 characters max.)

4: Submit your app!

You’ll need your Submission ID Number, the name of your Member of Congress, the link to your video, and your answers to the questions.

The “Competition Submission Period” will start at 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time (“PST”), JUNE 15, 2022, and will be closed at 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (“PST”) NOVEMBER 1, 2022.

Students are encouraged to at least register before JUNE 15 to indicate their intent to compete.

After the Submission Period has ended, the Submission cannot be modified in any way before the completion of judging.

The Judging Period will last from NOVEMBER 2 through NOVEMBER 30.

Winners will be announced on or around the month of DECEMBER.

5: Fill out the exit questionnaire

After you submit your work, you will be given a link to the Exit Questionnaire on the same page.

Teams: ALL Members of your team must complete the Exit Questionnaire individually. Teammates can use the same link, but must complete the form individually.

Resources for Students and Teachers

The district winner or winning team will have their app displayed along with each district’s winners in the U.S Capitol in Washington, DC!

For any additional information, please contact Sara Trejo in my San Mateo office at 650-342-0300 or sara.trejo@mail.house.gov

Congresswoman Speier looks forward to receiving the entries and hearing about the challenges the students undertake as they delve deeper into the STEM fields!