Congressman DeSaulnier Announces 2025 Congressional App Challenge Winner
Walnut Creek, CA – Today, Congressman DeSaulnier (CA-10) announced that Rushil Baindla, Imran Mirza, Nikhil Kalburgi, and Riddhish Saravanan of Dublin are the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) for California’s 10th Congressional District.
Baindla, Mirza, Kalburgi, and Saravanan, all juniors at Emerald High School, created Synapse Match. Inspired by their teacher’s unexpected Parkinson’s diagnosis, the group designed this app to help in identifying early-stage symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and related conditions through artificial intelligence. The app uses existing patient data, an audio analysis tool, and motor assessment to predict the likelihood of Parkinson’s disease.
“I am truly impressed by the incredible talent demonstrated at this year’s app challenge,” said Congressman DeSaulnier. “We received a record number of submissions this year and I am amazed by the innovation and ingenuity shown by all of our participants. I appreciate that the Congressional App Challenge provides young people with an opportunity to build their skills and show their creativity. Congratulations to Rushil, Imran, Nikhil, and Riddhish!”
Second place was awarded to Adhyayan Veer Singh of San Ramon for his app Scholify, which helps to connect students with scholarship opportunities tailored to their interests, experience, and goals. Third place was awarded to Jayden Wong of Moraga. Jayden created CellLab, an interactive game designed to foster curiosity and excitement in biology education.
This year’s winning apps were selected by a panel of judges from the STEM and education fields, all of whom live or work in California’s 10th Congressional District.
The CAC is a public initiative to encourage young people to learn how to code in an effort to inspire creativity and encourage interest in STEM education. In the first seven years of the competition, the CAC has inspired over 40,000 students across all 50 states to code.