Krithik Alluri’s Congressional App Challenge project, Neurowheel, was highlighted as part of the challenge’s 10-year anniversary celebration. Alluri, a senior at Lenape High School, won the challenge in 2004.
The Congressional App Challenge is celebrating 10 years by spotlighting 25 outstanding young alumni shaping the future of technology and innovation.
One of them alumni is Krithik Alluri, a senior at Lenape High School. He won the challenge in 2024 in New Jersey’s 3rd Legislative District, then led by Congressman and now U.S. Sen. Andy Kim.
Alluri’s project, Neurowheel, was to build a brain-controlled wheelchair to help people with neuromuscular disorders regain some independence.
“I was inspired by my grandfather’s stroke and his journey to regain mobility, and I wanted to create a low-cost, accessible path for others,” Alluri shared. “My system used an EEG (electroencephalography) headset to interpret simple commands – forward, left, right, stop – and send them to the wheelchair’s microcontroller.
“But what made it more than just a proof of concept,” he added, “were the features I added: a quick calibration process, real-time feedback on the user’s brain signals and an emergency stop. It was a huge challenge to take something I’d only ever sketched on paper and make it into a system that could safely and reliably move a real chair.”
The app challenge was the first time “I was pushed to stop treating my project like a hobby and start treating it like a real product,” Alluri explained.
“It was a catalyst that shifted my mindset from just building for myself to building for a community,” he continued. “The competition forced me to think beyond the technical challenges and articulate not just what my app was, but who it was for and why it mattered.
“The second, and perhaps even more valuable, part was the community,” Alluri emphasized. “Connecting with other student developers who were just as passionate about using tech for good was huge. It gave me a network of like-minded people. Listening to the keynote speakers and connecting with the judges wasn’t just about getting feedback; it was about seeing different career paths and learning how to tell a powerful story about your work.
“That experience of connecting with people has shaped my approach to everything I do.”
Alluri is a researcher in surgical robotics and the founder of Stembotics, a nonprofit bringing low-cost STEM education to students.
“… The work feels incredibly important and useful,” he noted of the robotics. “It’s not just about pushing the boundaries of technology, but about applying it to directly improve patient outcomes and transform how care is delivered.”
Stembotics has delivered low-cost STEM learning to more than 1,000 students.
” … Seeing the impact on those kids is a completely different kind of fulfillment,” Alluri observed. “Leading teams, writing curricula, and shipping physical kits have been a massive learning experience, and it’s deeply rewarding to empower the next generation of innovators.”
The Congressional App Challenge promotes STEM education by recognizing and incentivizing young programming talent, according to its website. Every year, members of Congress across the country challenge middle- and high-school students to create and submit their original apps for a chance to win the challenge.
For more information, visit www.congressionalappchallenge.us.
