Ocean County Leader

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) has announced the winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge for New Jersey's Fourth District. This annual competition, hosted by Smith, aims to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills among middle and high school students.

"Congratulations to Katrina Migliore, Ahren Gaikwad, and Cameron Mock from Communications High School in Wall Township for winning this year’s competition with their app 'Eco-Scan,'" said Smith.

The winning team was chosen by a panel of judges who evaluated app submissions from high schools across the Fourth Congressional District. "As the panel of judges noted, their innovative app combines convenience with education to help inform and encourage users to recycle," Smith stated. "By simply scanning a barcode or searching in the app, users instantly have access to a ton of information about how to properly dispose of a particular item to help them make informed decisions when discarding products."

Migliore, Gaikwad, and Mock shared that their inspiration for developing the app came from their experiences with improper product disposal while trying to perform environmentally healthy tasks at home. They highlighted that recycling contaminated products can worsen the issue by adding more infected recycling batches to landfills.

The Congressional App Challenge is held simultaneously in multiple congressional districts across the United States. It allows students to showcase their software app-developing skills as part of a nationwide competition administered by Members of Congress. Established in 2014, it has become the largest student computer science competition globally.

Middle and high school students from the Fourth Congressional District interested in participating in next year’s contest should contact Congressman Smith’s Toms River Office at 732-504-0567 or Middletown Office at 732-780-3035.