Neha Hariharaprasad was awarded for her dedication and innovation at the Congressional App Challenge.
Neha Hariharaprasad, a freshman from Brandeis High School in San Antonio, has clinched the Congressional App Challenge for Texas’s 20th District with her app ‘Eczema Ease’. The app aims to help users manage eczema by educating them and empowering them to track their symptoms. Neha’s personal journey with eczema motivated her to build this comprehensive resource, showcasing her coding skills and commitment to making a positive impact in the community. As a result of her achievement, Neha’s app will be featured in U.S. Capitol and highlighted online.
San Antonio is buzzing with excitement as one of its bright young minds, Neha Hariharaprasad, a freshman at Brandeis High School, has just won the Congressional App Challenge for Texas’s 20th Congressional District! This national contest encourages students in middle and high school to dive into the fascinating world of computer science, and Neha’s victory is nothing short of inspiring.
For those who may not know, Neha’s journey began with her personal struggle with eczema, a condition that has affected her since she was born. This challenge fueled her passion to develop an app called “Eczema Ease”, designed to help others manage their eczema effectively. Neha spent her summer coding and pouring her heart into creating an app that, while tech-savvy, also reflects her own experience and knowledge. The joy of winning came after a lot of hard work, proving that dedication truly pays off!
The Eczema Ease app is thoughtfully divided into two core sections: Educate and Empower. In the Educate section, users can upload photos, and the app uses a sophisticated Convolutional Neural Network to help detect eczema. Currently, it’s being trained on over 20,000 images to enhance its accuracy. But that’s not all! This section also includes engaging flashcards to help users learn more about eczema, along with a handy dropdown menu providing insights on treatments and lifestyle changes.
On the flip side, the Empower section is all about enabling users to take control of their condition. Users can diligently track their symptoms, detail their outbreaks, identify potential triggers, and even keep tabs on their daily skincare routines, medications, and diet. Neha describes this feature as “basically a digital notebook where you can keep track of everything.” It’s designed to be a comprehensive resource for anyone managing eczema, focusing on real-life solutions and support.
Speaking of eczema, did you know that it affects about 10%-30% of children and 2%-10% of adults in the U.S.? That’s a significant portion of the population dealing with a challenging skin condition! Neha’s experience of severe eczema has led her to visit numerous doctors and try various treatments, before finally finding relief through care in India. This firsthand experience enriches the app’s mission by making it a genuine tool for connection and healing.
Perhaps what’s even more delightful is that Neha was inspired by her brother, Rishi Hariharaprasad, who himself won the Congressional App Challenge the previous year. With a family legacy of achievement, Neha has certainly set her eyes on making a lasting impact through her technological skills. She discovered her love for coding in fifth grade and was already launching her first app by grade six! Talk about being ahead of the game!
As the regional winner, Neha’s app is slated to be showcased in the prestigious U.S. Capitol Building and will also be highlighted on the U.S. House of Representatives website. To top it all off, she’s been invited to attend the #HouseOfCode reception in Washington, D.C. this spring! How exciting is that?
The Congressional App Challenge, established in 2013, has been a fantastic initiative to promote the awareness of computer science and STEM fields in schools across the nation. U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro expressed his pride in the creativity and hard work displayed, empathizing with Neha’s journey, especially as skin ailments have impacted his own family.
As Neha continues to develop her app with the goal of making it available in app stores, who knows what other amazing achievements await her? With her knack for coding and a passion for making a difference, she is truly a force to be reckoned with. San Antonio certainly has a rising star in its midst!
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