December 16, 2019 3:10 a.m.
In conjunction with Computer Science Education Week that was held last week, Congressman Peter DeFazio announced the Oregon fourth district winner of the 2019 Congressional App Challenge is Ajay Sridhar, a senior at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis.
DeFazio said he is impressed with the student’s efforts. DeFazio said Sridhar’s work showed one of the myriad of benefits that computer science brings to people’s lives.
DeFazio’s release said that inspired by trying to find a solution to his sister’s fear of walking home alone at night, the teen designed an App called “Cautios” to help protect people from potentially dangerous encounters. It uses public data from the Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registry to track the location of level three sex offenders in relation to the user’s real-time position. Another feature enables the user to press a “help” button when in danger that sends their exact location along with a message requesting help to select pre-set contacts.
Started just three years, ago, the Congressional App Challenge allows middle and high school students to compete against their peers by creating an app that can be used on various devices. The release said the challenge is designed to promote innovation and engagement in computer science.