The top three winners of this year’s Maine App Challenge are, from left, Frazier Dougherty of Yarmouth High School, second place; Ian Lajoie of Biddeford Regional Center for Technology, third place; and Yuliya Buturlia of Scarborough High School, first place. Courtesy photo

Tyler Technologies, Inc. recently announced that three digitally-savvy high school students from Maine were recently selected as winners of the 2022 Tyler Technologies Maine App Challenge, a contest that challenges students to show off their skills and creativity by building a mobile application.

The winners received scholarships totaling $10,000, which were presented at Tyler’s awards ceremony on June 18 at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

This year’s winners are:

• First place: Yuliya Buturlia of Scarborough High School created ScheduleStorm, an app that allows students to schedule meetings with their teachers, anytime and from anywhere.

• Second place: Frazier Dougherty of Yarmouth High School created Train ME 2, an elevated workout app that allows users to create customizable workouts or choose from a database of premade workouts. This inclusive workout app is for all activity levels and allows users to track progress and set individual goals.

• Third place: Ian Lajoie of Biddeford Regional Center for Technology created Quick Work, an app that helps users easily find videos and information from experts on how to troubleshoot problems with their vehicle.

“The annual Maine App Challenge allows for students to explore the world of software design and development in a creative and fun way,” said Chris Hepburn, president of Tyler’s Enterprise Group. “The students’ application designs are always interesting and innovative, and we were pleased to be able to honor our winners in person this year. We hope that this contest inspires future technology professionals in the great state of Maine.”

This year, Tyler collaborated with the Foster Center for Innovation at the University of Maine to host a series of free workshops for students to help with brainstorming, prototyping, and testing their applications. Students that attended these workshops began their work to qualify for a University of Maine System Innovation Micro-Credential.

The three Maine App Challenge winners were rewarded with college scholarships totaling $10,000 in 529 college savings plans. Tyler also gifted tablets to the students who completed the first 50 submissions. Additionally, a guaranteed internship interview will be given for the top 10 submission participants following each student’s college sophomore year.

Tyler also awarded a $500 check to the Maine high school with the most teams or individuals submitting an eligible entry. This year’s winner is Casco Bay High School in Portland, whose students completed a total of 13 submissions.

High school students in Maine may be unaware that there are thousands of career opportunities the state offers in software and computer science. The Maine App Challenge, which was developed in 2015 in partnership with Educate Maine’s Project>Login, introduces students to STEM-related disciplines and supports the notion that these students can excel in this field while remaining in Maine. Since its inception, the Maine App Challenge has gifted more than $70,000 in 529 college savings plans to students in Maine.

For more information about the Maine App Challenge, contact MACT@tylertech.com.