Rep. Roy announces congressional app challenge winner

Press Release

Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) is pleased to announce the winner for the 2021 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) in Texas' 21st Congressional District.

The winner is Mr. Kuval Pedarla of Austin and his app Deep Fake Detector, which works to identify falsified video content -- also known as "deep fakes". He attends Westlake High School in Eanes ISD.

"I found that deep fakes are already being used to deceive businesses and that deep fakes are being considered to be a major category of emerging cybercrime," Mr. Pedarla said.

He noticed the problem and took the next step to find a solution. Mr. Pedarla put considerable thought and research into the development of his app Deep Fake Detector, "I also learned about AI and experimented with different ways to detect deep fakes. After creating my AI I decided to make a website that anyone around the world can use to detect deep fakes."

The honorable mention goes to a team of students at LASA High School in Austin ISD. Jack Woytek, Nathan Elias, Harrison Chang, and Tyler Hawkins worked together to create their app Codex. They have a passion to teach coding to fellow students and anyone who has a desire to learn. The Codex platform makes this easier than ever.

There were several talented students that submitted their creations for consideration by our volunteer judges. Congressman Roy would also like to extend a thank you to the stellar individuals who volunteered as judges for the CAC: Ms. Jaclyn Mertz of the National Museum of the Pacific War, Dr. Sami Mian, and Mr. Brian Nagy of Everyware. Their experience in the tech industry was invaluable in scoring the apps for determination of the winner for TX-21.

Background on the Congressional App Challenge:

Students from across America are provided this opportunity by the United States House of Representatives. The goal is to encourage students to pursue STEM activities such as coding. Each challenge is district-specific. As U.S. Representatives we publicly recognize our winning teams and each winning app may be put on display in the U.S. Capitol Building for one year. Additional prizes are available.

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