BDPA Announces Two Mobile Application Scholarship Winners

Kareem DaSilva and Mayesha Awal win State Farm Scholarships

National BDPA announced their 2016 Student Mobile Application Showcase (MAS) Scholarship Award winners from educational institutions across the United States at their 38th Annual National Technology Conference and Career Fair on August 2016, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

The National BDPA Mobile Application Showcase, co-sponsored by McDonald's, State Farm Insurance and World Wide Technology allowed college and high school student developers the opportunity to participate in a two (2) day competition that tested their Android & iOS smartphone operating systems. The applications showcase represented three different application categories (business, personal productivity, and gaming). Monetary awards sponsored by State Farm were given to the top high school and college participants. Each participant received certificates of participation for their effort.

Tonji Zimmerman

Tonya Zimmerman is the coordinator of the Mobile Application Showcase.

"Congratulations to our 2016 Mobile Application Showcase participants & winners! I hope that this program and all of our student-focused programs has and will continue to inspire our students to become multi-language, multi-platform technologists. We look forward to next year's showcase and the participants' innovative app ideas!” exclaimed Tonji Zimmerman, MAS Coordinator.

There were two students who won the college and high school division of the showcase.   Kareem DaSilva is the winner of the College Student division.

Kareem DaSilva, the college student winner replied, "Throughout my experiences at BDPA, the Mobile Application Showcase stretched me the most, it pushed me to think, try, and succeed the hardest. Coming in 2nd place in 2015 only fueled me to build a better and more capable application. It forced me out of my comfort zone which showed me how much more I can grow and become better."

Mayesha Awal was a salutatorian from the class of 586 students at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis.   She just entered Georgetown University as a freshman seeking to major in Biochemistry and Computer Science.

High school winner Mayesha Awal said, "I have always loved computer and computer technology ever since I was young. When applications on mobile phones were new, I wanted to make my own mobile application and wondered how I would get started. When the opportunity to make a mobile app came across, I immediately jumped on the opportunity because I wanted to challenge myself to see what I was capable of doing. The process itself was a little stressful at times, but it really showed me what weaknesses and strengths I have regarding computer programming. Finding an original idea was also a difficult process as there are numerous applications on the app store. I finally decided to make a social networking app called Moda because my friends once told me that they were worried about job prospects in fashion and design. I decided to have users on Moda be able to post their designs and have designer companies be able to recruit designers based upon their talent and skills. I also gained an appreciation for app development because I realized that it takes a great deal of patience, organization, and dedication to design a mobile app. I want to further enhance my application by adding more functionalities to my app and release it in various app stores."

For more details on the BDPA corporate sponsorship program, contact the corporate sales support team at (301) 584-3135 ext. 108 or corpsales@bdpa.org. Additionally, please visit www.bdpa.org.