Press Releases

(Honolulu, HI) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) today announced the winners of his 2024 Congressional App Challenge for Hawai‘i’s First Congressional District at a reception at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox in Kaka‘ako.

The App Challenge is an official national initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, in which Members of Congress host annual contests in their districts for middle and high school students. For 2024, 389 of the 441 Members of the House, or 87%, hosted such contests. More information is here: https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/.

“My Challenge is a great opportunity for our local students to focus their skills and creativity on developing, testing and analyzing new applications for real-world use,” said Case. “Congratulating the contestants and their ‘ohana at the Sandbox, ‘Hawaii’s community hub to inspire creativity, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship’, adds an extra boost to what will hopefully be an inspiring and motivating experience for all of them.”

“And results of this year’s Challenge prove once again that Hawaii’s youth have the skill set, imagination and resolve to compete against the best of our young people nationwide in science, technology, engineering and math, along with the potential to lead the next generations of computer science and technology.”

Participation in Congressman Case’s First District Congressional App Challenge has grown significantly from 2019, when he conducted his first Challenge after returning to Congress, to 2024. His 2019 Challenge saw ten app submissions from 27 students across four schools. 2024 marks the highest numbers yet, with 28 app submissions from 76 students across 14 schools, including eight public schools, six private schools, and two homeschooled.

The winners of Congressman Case’s 2024 Challenge are:

1^st Place – Tahan Bapna, Josh Zhang, Connor McCown and Kai Stewart of Punahou High School

All 4 are in the 10^th grade

App: “Isolated Isles”

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5WTUMzg9SM

Summary by the creators:

“Our app, Isolated Isles, is a simulation game designed to raise awareness about Hawaii’s reliance on commercial imports. In the game, players assume the role of the governor of Hawaii during a two-week crisis triggered by a volcano.

“The primary objective, though simplified, is to manage food supplies, energy resources, and public trust while navigating a range of challenges and unexpected events. As governors, players must balance these resources to ensure the survival of the population until the crisis subsides.

“Throughout the game, players receive guidance from virtual advisors representing key departments ‚ agriculture, energy, and public safety. This advice helps inform critical decisions, which directly impact the island's resources and the overall well-being of the population. Every day, players encounter semi-realistic events such as food shortages, illness outbreaks, and public unrest. The advisors will give suggestions which the player can choose to authorize. The player can only authorize one event or choose to do nothing at all.”

2^nd Place – Jinghao Li of Island Pacific Academy

11^th grade

App: “CounselAI”

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL16u9SeXLY

Summary by the creator:

“CounselAI is a college counseling application designed for low-income communities and anyone that wants to have a college counselor but cannot afford one. It is designed to be easy to use, free to use, and quick to use. It is designed to be run on the widest range of computers to ensure that anybody can run it. When a user uses CounselAI, they will fill out information that will appeal to colleges, things such as GPA, standardized test scores, APs, awards, sports, and clubs. All the information then gets evaluated by an algorithm to give the user a score.”

“Then, CounselAI would search through its database for a list of universities that they should apply to for their career (like art colleges if the user wants to pursue arts). If the user does not have an intended career field, CounselAI recommends generally good colleges but will not be able to go into specifics. If the user wants to learn more about a college, CounselAI would generate an AI response for the college.

“If the user has questions about the college application process, the user would then be able to chat with an AI-based chatbot that will assist them with the college application process.”

3rd Place – Tyler Kagawa (Mid-Pacific Institute, 12^th grade), Lilinoe Daniel-Barnes (Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona, 11^th grade) , Ellie Grace Piianaia (Punahou High School, 12^th grade), Kaua Fatu (Kea`au High School in Pahoa, 11^th grade)

App: “`Ae Hawai`i”

Link to video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FBm906OugJ_jcX2ER4dD8vbJOOYyVCXA/view?usp=sharing

Summary by the creators:

“`Ae Hawai`i is a platform for tourists and local residents to rate an experience throughout the Hawaiian islands on a scale of authenticity.

“`Ae Hawai`i came from our team's values and collective ideals, which were to prioritize authenticity while not completely uprooting current norms in terms of tourism. If an industry that's so huge here continues to promote unrealistic and unauthentic experiences and passes them off as real Hawaiian culture, it’s devastating for everyone trying to break this mold. We want to rewrite the narrative promoted to tourists in a way that better represents the people and culture of Hawai`i.”

The judges of Case’s 2024 Challenge were: Aaron Kagawa, Platform Engineering Director at global technology startup Kentik Technologies, Inc. and co-founder of Second Wave Technologies; Jimmy Freese, co-founder of Ai.Fish, focused on artificial intelligence specifically computer vision analysis in the commercial fisheries monitoring and marine space; and Dr. Rick Kazman, the Danny and Else Lui Professor of Information Technology Management at the University of Hawai’i.

For details on how to enter next year’s Congressional App Challenge, go to Congressman Case’s web site here or visit the Congressional App Challenge web site here.

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