The winner of the Congressional App Challenge in New York’s 14th congressional district is Michael Batavi from the Bronx High School of Science.
Batavi designed CrownCatch, a mobile app designed to help users minimize their risk of catching and spreading COVID-19 by providing news from reputable outlets, notifications of local case counts and encouraging people to socially distance through a points system.
Check out a video demonstrating the app here.
“Michael’s application was unique, navigable and had a real potential to scale up,” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. “He also thoughtfully considered behavioral psychology when designing a points system that would incentivize users to observe COVID-19 public health guidelines.”
The runner-up in the 14th congressional district is Christopher Schack, who designed Ability Tester, a website with five tests to measure a user’s short-term memory, vision, hand-eye coordination, motor skills and reflexes. Watch how the app works here.
The winners are traditionally recognized with a reception in Washington D.C. This year, the ceremony will be held virtually due to the pandemic.