In December 2024, three Hill students won the 2024 Congressional App Challenge. Ambrose Cole ’26, Liam Mpofu ’26, and Ayaan Rege ’26, were awarded the first-place prize for their work on their app, Clarity. Students were able to submit their apps to the Congressional App Challenge website, where each winning app was awarded by district. Ambrose, Liam, and Ayaan won in the 4^th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, recognized by Rep. Madeleine Dean.

The apps submitted around the country were built from scratch, making students responsible for ideas, coding, design, and implementation. Submissions were entered in October; judging took place during November; and decisions were released in the beginning of December. While Ambrose, Liam, and Ayaan used their computer science teachers, Hazem Saleh and Dr. Hoda Ehsan, as mentors for this project, their participation was voluntary.

Clarity is an app that assists visually impaired people, catering to their particular needs. The app has four features, all of which are demonstrated in the students’ submission video. These features include text-to-speech, where users upload an image with text and recites it; a magnifier that zooms in further than basic functionality; color filters that connect to the camera for people with color blindness to see more clearly; and AI questions, where users upload an image and AI answers questions about the photo that users may not be able to answer due to their visual impairment.

Liam was initially interested in creating an app around colorblindness because of the relevance in his own life, “I have deuteranopia and when I created the app’s colorblindness feature, I was able to understand my own condition on a deeper level, and for that opportunity I’m extremely grateful.” After their win, they were invited to a reception where they met Rep. Dean and shared more about their work.

Ambrose, Liam, and Ayaan are all interested in furthering the app process. They are looking to publish Clarity on the iOS app store and Google Play store under the name “Three Piece Labs.” Ayaan shared, “We’ve seen firsthand how efforts toward accessibility can be recognized at levels we never knew about, so we’ll be striving to find new platforms through the school year and beyond.”

Congratulations Ambrose, Liam, and Ayaan!