Congresswoman Suzan DelBene is hosting a hackathon for local high school students as part of the Congressional App Competition, a program to encourage innovation and computer science education. The event will be held in Discovery Hall at 18115 Campus Way NE on the University of Washington Bothell campus from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 1 and 2-4 p.m. on Oct. 2.

The Congressional App Challenge is open to all students in grades 9-12. Students must submit their apps by Nov. 2.

“As someone who worked in the technology sector before coming to Congress, I know firsthand that innovation requires creative, entrepreneurial leaders. The future of our nation and its economy depend on the next generations being able to think outside of the box. This competition is a great opportunity for high school students in our region to compete against each other by designing a creative app,” DelBene said. “Computer science is a growing career field, not only in the First District but across the nation, and I encourage all interested students to enter this year’s Congressional App Challenge and hackathon.”

The hackathon is an opportunity for students to work on their Congressional App Challenge projects and hear feedback from technology experts before the submission deadline. Students will spend all of Saturday working on their project and prizes will be awarded from AT&T, Google, Microsoft and Scaphold on Sunday.

Local students interested in joining must signup at https://www.eventbrite.com search “hackathon.”

Washington state is expected to see a 24 percent increase in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs by 2018, half of which are expected to be in computer science and information technology.