“Every app submitted in this year’s competition was innovative and inspiring"

WALNUT CREEK, CA (MPG) – Today, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) announced Sean Donelan of Concord as the winner of the 2020 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) for California’s 11^th District. Donelan, a student at Northgate High School, designed and created “NetHam: The Public Service Event Coordinator’s Third Hand,” a software application that replaces amateur radio operators’ large, unwieldy equipment and automates their more basic tasks. The app is meant to allow operators to more easily serve as long-range communicators for public events.

“Every app submitted in this year’s competition was innovative and inspiring, and I am proud of the great STEM skills shown by every entry,” said Congressman DeSaulnier. “I congratulate Sean on the design of a creative and useful app that would benefit the amateur radio community and look forward to seeing “NetHam” represent the many talents of Contra Costa County’s students when on display in the United States Capitol.”

Second place was awarded to teammates Amrita Malhotra, Sydney Zhang, Cathy Kenderski, and Olivia House and third place went to Aarav Wattal.

The competition’s panel of judges included:

• Queenie Lau – Mobile App Developer, UC Berkeley
• Ruben Hernandez – Director of Projects and Programs, Office of Richmond Mayor Tom Butt
• James Lyons – District Coordinator, Office of Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia

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. Established in 2014, the CAC has now reached over 14,000 students across the country, including those in underserved and rural areas. This is the sixth year Congressman DeSaulnier has hosted the CAC for the 11^th District.