CARMEL, Ind. — Laugh all you want, we’ve all been there.
Who among us hasn’t been stuck in a car for hours on end, only to unconsciously choose a rest stop with only one bathroom? Or have you spent your precious time wandering around a strange city without knowing where the public restrooms are?
A new, award-winning phone app developed by Carmel High School student Jasper Zhu offers a solution to that problem. Congresswoman Victoria Spartz announced Monday that Zhu’s “I Pooped There” app won the top prize in the Congressional App Challenge 2023.
The app allows users to post reviews about nearby toilets and say which ones are best, making it easy for others to get the information as well.
“If you’re on a road trip or something and you want to go to the bathroom, you’re like, ‘What exit should I take?’ And instead of going to a place where the urinals are broken or something, you go to that bathroom. ,” Zhu said.
The sophomore said he was a little hesitant when he was called into his office for the first time to accept his award on Monday.
“I was just in the middle of class, and my brother and the teacher came into the classroom and were like, ‘What are you doing here?’ Then they took me into the office and said, ‘What? I thought, ‘Maybe I’m in trouble?”’ Zhu said.
Far from it. Mr. Spartz appeared at Carmel High School and personally handed Mr. Zhu the winning certificate.
“I’m like, ‘No way.’ I can’t believe it,” Zhu said. “I was really excited.”
The process began when Zhu was contacted by Jackie Wee, a teammate and family friend from California, and the two of them created a mobile app using JavaScript. Wie had already created the bare bones of the app, but Zhu was able to fill in some details.
“When he came up with the idea and he contacted me, I thought it was a good idea and we could start working on it in earnest,” Zhu said.
The process took about four months, and Zhu said he approached it like any other project.
“You don’t have to look professional. You have to be like, ‘This goes here, this goes here.’ This is what we want. “You can add those details later because you know where everything is,” he says.
Zhu already has a passion for computers and data science, and believes creating the app was a necessary step in his personal growth. coder.
“I’ve wanted to do something with computers ever since I was in college, like computer science or data science. I think it was more like a step to improve my skills rather than something like that,” Zhu said.
The Congressional App Challenge is one of the most prestigious challenges for programmers in the country, and Zhu took home the top prize in a record year that saw more applicants than ever vie for the honor.
Approximately 374 House members hosted the contest and 11,334 students participated, which is 1,000 more than the original record set in 2019, according to the contest organizers.
The challenge also received 3,645 unique submissions, an increase of almost 1,000 over the previous record set in 2022, according to representatives from The Congressional App. More than 25% of his submitted apps incorporate artificial intelligence, and this year’s App Challenge had the largest number of submissions by a single district and the highest average number of submissions per district in program history.
Winners from each participating district will receive an exclusive invitation to a reception on April 10-11, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Zhu wasn’t the only Indiana teen recognized at the reception. Teens in Indiana House Districts 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 have also submitted apps for consideration, but Congressional app representatives say they won’t be released until January. Stated.
“There’s still a chance, so don’t worry too much,” Zhu says.
“I Pooped There” will be featured on www.House.gov and will be on display as part of a rotating exhibit in the Cannon House office building leading to the U.S. Capitol.