About The Event
Where? Online Zoom Webinar
When? August 1-7
The internet and software have connected our communities worldwide, allowing for the instantaneous exchange of information. But as new technological breakthroughs pop up every day, are we losing sight of our morals? Technologists and developers need to prioritize ethics in their ideation and development process at a young age. Through this event of nearly 20 speakers/workshops and a $30k-prized app ideation competition, attending students will have a unique opportunity to build ethically-responsible applications.
Ethics in Technology Theme
Privacy, Trust, and Fairness
This year, our exciting speaker lineup will touch on topics ranging from search engines to the Metaverse to Alexa. Through highlighting the imminent privacy and fairness concerns that exist in some of the biggest tech giants of our time, the speakers hope to encourage students to understand how their technology and applications function in our larger society.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
To support our core mission of providing computer science opportunities to underprivileged students, our speakers will also discuss their advice on building more inclusive technology. Just as elevators—originally invented for the disabled—have revolutionized those of all backgrounds, the speakers hope to encourage students to design technology through the lens of those who are underrepresented.
As for the competition, students are encouraged to ideate or develop apps that positively impact humanity, keeping many of the speaker topics and our overall event theme of ethics in technology in mind.
Schedule
All times are in Pacific Time
August 1
11:00 AM
Developing Creative App Ideas
11:00 AM
Developing Creative App Ideas
2:00 PM
Learning the Basics of Python Programming
2:00 PM
Learning the Basics of Python Programming
August 2
11:00 AM
How to Reduce Stress & Work Faster: Flow States
11:00 AM
How to Reduce Stress & Work Faster: Flow States
2:00 PM
Creating Mobile Apps with MIT App Inventor
2:00 PM
Creating Mobile Apps with MIT App Inventor
August 3
11:00 AM
Deploying Apps to the Real World
11:00 AM
Deploying Apps to the Real World
2:00 PM
Building a Personal Website
2:00 PM
Building a Personal Website
August 4
11:00 AM
Developing Video Games with Python
11:00 AM
Developing Video Games with Python
2:00 PM
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
2:00 PM
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
August 5
5:00 PM
Opening Ceremony
5:00 PM
Opening Ceremony
Keynotes
Anne Toth
Former Chief Trust Officer @ Yahoo
For over 20 years Anne Toth has been a leader focused on building customer trust in emerging technologies at organizations such as Yahoo!, Google, Slack, Amazon, and the World Economic Forum. She has been at the bleeding edge of thinking about technology policy issues including data privacy, protection and governance, accessibility, appropriate content policies and content moderation, advertising content policy, and inclusive, ethical product design. Previously she was Head of Privacy for Google+ at Google and Chief Trust Officer at Yahoo!. Toth has testified before the United States Congress and the Article 29 Working Party in Brussels on matters related to online privacy and data retention. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and pursued a Masters of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.
Aditya Vishwanath
Founder of Inspirit
Aditya Vishwanath is an education technology researcher and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Inspirit, where he builds immersive 3D and virtual reality tools for STEM education. He is also a doctoral researcher at Stanford University and works at the intersection of the learning sciences, media, and design. He has been awarded the Stanford Knight-Hennessy scholarship, the Georgia Tech President’s Undergraduate Research Award (thrice), the SXSW EDU launch award (for Inspirit), and was recently nominated to the 2022 Forbes Technology Council and the 2022 Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in Education. He is also a social entrepreneur, and founded MakerGhat, a makerspace and incubator for youth from low-income communities in India.
Speakers
Christian Focacci
Founder of Runnaroo
Christian Focacci has recently joined You.com as Director of Product to help work on core search ranking and relevance, and to grow relationships with existing and prospective platform partners. Before joining You.com, Christian was the co-founder and CTO of a machine learning and NLP-focused search startup that was acquired in 2018 and is now part of Diligent Corporation. Christian was also the creator of Runnaroo, a privacy-focused search engine that had a strong core following among technical users and differentiated itself by aggregated results from a curated set of relevant sources, called Deep Searches. Runnaroo was also the first search engine to implement the W3C Web Monetization standard as a way to fund a search engine without ads.
Melody Alefteras
Melody has spent over 15 years at the cutting edge of computer programming and database management. A talented engineer, she discovered programming when analyzing and visualizing large datasets of lithic technology. She earned the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification after being a forerunner in using AWS technologies to modernize information technology at two Washington state departments. Until her junior year of college, Melody was determined to be an archaeologist and also dreamt of being a writer. She has raised a family, four dogs, and five chickens while doing it all! Melody holds an MS in Management - Information Systems from Western Governors University and a BLA in Computer Science from The Evergreen State College.
Damian Musk
Serial Entrepreneur
Damian Musk is an aspiring theoretical and computational physicist currently working at the Fermilab Theory Division and the Caltech INQNET consortium, his research focusing on topics in high energy physics and quantum information. Damian is fascinated by everything scientific as well as the social and cultural systems in which science takes place, teaching courses in STEM and humanities subjects that aim to demonstrate the value of unifying them. He also loves fiction and poetry (frequently inclined to ramble about random topics in literary criticism), classical music and jazz (and various Broadway musicals), baking, and pretending that in-depth statistical analysis is the key to gaming the stock market.
Nassim Parvin
Nassim Parvin is an Associate Professor at the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech, where she also direct the Design and Social Justice Studio. Her research explores the ethical and political dimensions of design and technology, especially as related to questions of democracy and social justice. Rooted in pragmatist ethics and feminist theory, she critically engages emerging digital technologies—such as smart cities or artificial intelligence—in their wide-ranging and transformative effect on the future of collective and social interactions.
Caprice Jones
Caprice Jones is the Founder and Executive Director of The Fountain of Youth Program. Born in Chicago, Caprice moved to Dubuque in 2015 with his wife and children because he wanted a future filled with unlimited possibilities and an opportunity for his children’s children to live and experience the American dream. Shortly after, Caprice was hired to work as the head Custodian at St. Luke's UMC. While working at St. Luke's, Caprice started a program named “ Fountain of Youth Program.” Caprice also holds an Associate in Liberal Studies from Lakeland College, as well as thousands of hours in substance abuse training through Cornell Intervention. Caprice Jones stands today as a man that embodies the hope that many people seek, that change is possible.
Brittiney Jones
Brittiney Jones is a Senior Diversity Recruiting Program Manager at Oracle. She supports the Oracle Talent Advisory team’s diverse strategy towards recruiting for professional level roles across North America and Canada with an emphasis on roles for Product Development, Corporate Architecture, F&A, and Marketing. Brittiney’s personal mission is to make sure that when a candidate is being considered, they are being considered holistically. An advocate for community service, Brittiney is also the founder of a non-profit in Chicago, Chicago Youth Opportunities Initiative, focused on career development opportunities for youth placed in foster care.
Workshops and Judges
Vishnu Mangipudi
Lester Heredia-Gopar
Pranav Gunhal
Ishir Lakhani
Nolan Dagum
Abigayle Peterson
Abharian Yura
Alexander Kozhenkov
Azamat Nurkhojayev
Danylo Tolmachov
Golubeva Veronika
Maksim Kuznetsov
Nikita Vasilev
Stepanov Dmitrii
Viachaslau Matsukevich
Steven Puri
Submission Guidelines
Business Pitch
This idea should be recorded in the form of a 2-5 minute video, where you introduce an app that can have a real-world impact.
- Video Length: 2-5 minutes
- Product name and it’s problem statement (what it attempts to solve)
- Market size for the product (how many people will it reach)
- Specifics about the product (how it works & how an app is incorporated in it)
- Competitive analysis (how is the product different than other products)
Writeup
This idea should be written in the form of a 500-1000 word writeup, where you introduce an app that can have a real-world impact.
- Writeup Length: 500-1000 words
- Product name and it’s problem statement (what it attempts to solve)
- Market size for the product (how many people will it reach)
- Specifics about the product (how it works & how an app is incorporated in it)
- Competitive analysis (how is the product different than other products)
Prototype
This idea should be written in the form of a prototype demonstrated in a 2-5 minute video, where you introduce an app that can have a real-world impact.
- Video Length: 2-5 minutes
- Product name and it’s problem statement (what it attempts to solve)
- Demo of the app and features
- How the app works, what technologies you used to build the prototype, etc.
- Future plans with this prototype (what else can you add to make it even better?)
Sponsors
Team
Leadership Team
Krish
Founder & Executive Director
Kabir
Director of Tech
Shafin
Director of Logistics/Operations
Ishir
Director of Outreach
Officer Team
Sarthak
Workshops Lead
Kamil
Website Lead
Zara
Partnerships Lead
Desiree
Design Lead
FAQ
Who can attend?
All students ranging from elementary to high school welcome to attend! Unlike most of our monthly workshops, this is an international event so you can attend from anywhere.
How will the event be held?
The event will be held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After registration, participants will receive more detailed logistical information. Participants can also join our discord for more information.
What is the project format?
Students can create either a prototype, which is a website or mobile app, a writeup, or a business pitch. More information can be found at http://tiny.cc/AppathonSubGuidelines.
How will project submission work?
Students will be allowed to submit projects starting August 1st, and the deadline for projects is August 7th. You will submit your project via http://tiny.cc/AppathonSubForm.
What is unique about this event?
Many organizations, especially during the COVID pandemic, have hosted online hackathons and summits. What makes this flagship Appathon event unique is its emphasis on idea creation for apps. The widespread impact an app can have on the world is unimaginable, and through our interactive workshops and prize-incentivized competition, students will delve into the world of application development.
How can I sponsor this event?
Please check out the link to our sponsorship prospectus https://appdevleague.org/ADL-Sponsor-Package.pdf. Feel free to contact us through our email: contact@appdevleague.org.