news

GUILDERLAND, NY — Congressman Paul D. Tonko visited Guilderland High School yesterday to recognize Daniel Joseph, the winning student for the 2025 Congressional App Challenge for New York’s 20^th Congressional District. During the visit, Tonko delivered congratulatory remarks and presented Daniel with a Congressional Certificate of Achievement and a letter of recognition for his outstanding work.

“Every year, I am continually impressed by the talent and pioneering spirit shown by our Capital Region students through their submissions for the Congressional App Challenge,” Congressman Tonko said, “and this year was no exception. With his innovative MedMate app, Daniel Joseph demonstrated not only his excellent coding skills, but also his admirable commitment to helping our health care workers deliver high-quality care to every patient. I’m proud to welcome Daniel into the storied ranks of Capital Region innovators, and I’m grateful to him for his hard work. Congratulations to all the students who participated in this year’s App Challenge!”

Daniel grew up surrounded by health care workers, including his mother, sister, grandmother, and aunts who all worked as nurses. After his sister mentioned that her nursing school assignments lacked the real-world experiences that would be found in an actual medical environment, Daniel set out to create an app that would give care providers and students like his sister a way to practice treating, assessing, and diagnosing patients while receiving valuable feedback.

His winning submission, MedMate, is an immersive medical training application that helps users sharpen their clinical skills by simulating real-life interactions with patients. The app provides users with a patient intake form containing the patient’s past medical history, an interactive AI Avatar that responds realistically to questions, and a diagnostic process that allows the users to ask questions, run tests, make a diagnosis, and receive feedback on their performance — effectively mirroring real-life clinical interactions to help users develop practical diagnostic skills and clinical reasoning.

You can learn more about the app by viewing Daniel’s submission video on YouTube.

This year’s NY-20 Congressional App Challenge winner was chosen by a distinguished panel of local judges including Dr. Mohammed J. Zaki, Professor and Department Head of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Annmarie Lanesey, CEO and Founder of CanCode Communities, and Tobi Saulnier, CEO of 1^st Playable Productions.

The Congressional App Challenge was created by Congress in 2013 to encourage innovation and engagement in coding, computer science, and STEM education. The App Challenge is open to all eligible middle and high school-aged students in New York’s 20^th Congressional District, regardless of coding experience.

To view and download photos of Congressman Tonko’s visit with Daniel, see the Congressman’s social media posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

###