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Scottsdale boy, 9, creates award-winning app

BY ALLISON BROWN Progress Staff Writer

Arnav Hingorani started learning coding at age 9 and now, four years later, the northern Scottsdale student has been named one of 18 �inalists in a prestigious, global coding competition for an app he created.

“Anyone with advanced level coding (was invited) to make an app that can help solve a real world problem,” Arnav said. “There were thousands of applicants and they picked the best to be �inalists, and mine ended up being one of those… I’m honored to be one of them. I think they’re all very good.”

Arnav’s dad, Naresh Hingorani, said he and his wife always encourage their kids to pursue different educational and athletic opportunities. Coding was one of those opportunities, and Arnav ended up excelling at it.

“I believe learning AI and data science are table stakes for all students in the future,” Naresh said. “Studying coding has

Arnav Hingorani is a 13-year-old math whiz, national tennis champ and Taekwondo black belt — now he can add global coding competition fi nalist to the list, too.

(Naresh Hingorani/Special to the Progress) developed Arnav’s approach to solving complex problems and, as a parent, it’s gratifying to watch his progress.” Arnav’s coding skills amped up in July 2020, when his parents enrolled him in an advanced coding course. Arnav said he already advanced in math and had a knack for learning languages, so coding seemed like a natural progression and something he knew would be helpful to learn. “Learning to code has many bene�its,” said Richa Agnihotri, Arnav’s coding teacher at BYJU’S FutureSchool. “First and foremost, it is a skill that is highly valued in the workforce, and jobs related to computer programming are growing exponentially. Beyond the computer, coding teaches critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and resilience.” During the summer of 2021, Arnav’s coding teacher encouraged him to think of a problem that can be solved using technology via an app. Arnav decided to create an app for students to keep track of important per-

sonal events, milestones and memories, organize them and share them. “I do a lot of things in my life. I do tennis, coding, math and other stuff, and I had no easy way to store all of the milestones that I got in all these different things,” he said. “I talked with a lot of different people and they all agreed there was no easy way to organize these different milestones using an app.” When Arnav says he “does a lot of things,” he’s not kidding. He has frequently participated in national tennis tournaments, math contests and taekwondo competitions, and his hobbies include traveling and cooking. With all these events, it’s hard to keep track of everything, which is why he created his app, My Life Resume. The app is designed to help kids upload and organize events by categories like academics, sports, arts or volunteer, and they can search for their events using keywords. ���HINGORANI ���� 20

Eagle Scout takes a swing at Chapparal dugouts

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

If you stop by Chapparal Park this weekend, you may notice something different about the dugouts on the baseball �ields.

After years of having a bleacher and a chain link fence that kids would use to mount their bats and helmets on, the dugouts now have racks for that gear – thanks to Scottsdale Boy Scout Eli Bump, 17. The racks were funded through a GoFundMe campaign started by Eli, a Scout since he was 6, and assembled nearly 20 fellow Scouts had had rounded up for the

Scottsdale Eagle Scout Eli Bump stands near a dugout at Chaparral Park, where his Eagle project involved some improvements to the

dugouts. (David Minton/ Progess Staff Photograpehr) project as part of his effort to attain Eagle rank, the highest in Boy Scouts. “This was really to support and raise money for my Eagle project and getting as many people as possible from friends to family to people that I’ve grown up with either through baseball or the scouts to help,” Eli said.

Before joining the scouts, Eli began playing tee-ball and over time baseball competed with his interest in scouting. The dugout project helped him pursue both passions. Eagle projects require a Scout to plan and execute a project that bene�its the ���BUMP ���� 20

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | AUGUST 28, 2022

Jones elected to Greater Phoenix Leadership

PROGRESS NEWS STAFF

Delta Dental of Arizona’s president and chief executive of�icer Michael Jones was elected to Greater Phoenix Leadership, a CEO business roundtable. The Airpark resident joins fellow newly elected members in Viavi Solutions president and chief executive of�icer Oleg Khaykin, Meritage Homes chief executive of�icer Phillippe Lord and Willmeng Construction chief executive of�icer James Murphy. “Greater Phoenix Leadership’s mission is to improve Arizona by bringing together talent, resources, and leadership to create action on priority issues,” Jones says.

“Delta Dental of Arizona is similarly focused on bringing together talent, resources and leadership to create action to improve oral health and access to oral health care across Arizona. I look forward to being an active member of GPL to help create actions that affect positive change on a statewide level, both to bene�it our members and the community at large.” Jones is also the president of the charitable Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation, which provides funding, education and dental supplies to those in need across the state. To date, Glendale-based Delta Dental of Arizona, through its foundation, has given more than $15 million toward these efforts. Jones works closely with the corporate and Foundation boards of directors and the executive leadership team to create and leverage partnerships that strengthen Delta Dental of Arizona’s ability to meet current and evolving market demands while remaining true to its mission of improving lives by promoting optimal oral health. In addition to new members, GPL elected chief executive of�icer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Pam Kehaly as chair; SRP chief executive of�icer Michael Hummel as vice chair; Snell & Wilmer Phoenix �irm chair Matthew Feeney as treasurer; and Emerging Airport Ventures chief executive of�icer Gonzalo de la Melena as secretary.

Re-elected to their third three-year terms are MAP Strategies president and chief executive of�icer Mi-Ai Parrish; Urias Strategies president Lisa Urias; Lewis & Roca managing partner Ken Van Winkle; and re-elected to their second three-year terms are Banner Health chief executive of�icer Peter Fine, Goodman’s Interior Structures chief executive of�icer Adam Goodman, Sundt Construction chief executive of�icer Mike Hoover and Valor Global chief executive of�icer Simer Mayo. “This is a terri�ic team of leaders, and we are grateful for their willingness to serve,” says Neil Giuliano, GPL president and chief executive of�icer. “With signi�icant individual and collective community engagement, they will provide thoughtful direction and strategic vision for strengthening the business advocacy voice of GPL and our role in helping guide and strengthen the future of Arizona.”

BUMP ���� ���� 19

community and demonstrates leadership skills by assembling a team to carry it out. Eli saw this as the perfect opportunity to give back to the game he he loves and – more importantly – improve the �ield where he caught his �irst ball and launched several baseballs into the sky.

He originally allocated a budget of $2,000 to fund four bat racks and four helmet racks – one for each dugout at Chapparal Park that did not have one. “It’s to support the young kids who don’t have anywhere to put their gear, it’s either underneath the benches or out in the walkways of the dugout, so it gives them more of an organized area,” Eli explained.

With his idea in mind, Eli went to the drawing board and drew up a 44” wide, 84” tall and 16” deep helmet rack allotting each helmet to have a 12” by 12” by 12” slot supported by painted wood planks, PVC planks and steel fencing staples. Eli also up a square bat storage rack to be made out of 1-and-a-half-inch diameter PVC pipe measuring 20” on all four sides and 20” in height. With diagrams drawn, the next step was to convince the Boy Scout Council and Chapparal Park to let Eli and his troop take a swing at aiding the community. Eli began conversing with Chapparal Park Operations Supervisor Phil Hershkowitz about the project. Fortunately for Eli, the project required little persuasion and Hershkowitz greenlit it. Then came the challenge of getting funding for the project. Eli started a GoFundMe page in early August and crossed his �ingers hoping he would raise a minimum of $2,000. The community knocked his goal out of the park and Eli wound up raising nearly $2,300 in just a week and a half.

He is mulling over whether to use the excess funds to fund additional activities for the troop or to donate them to the Vista Del Camino food bank.

With the funds secured and materials purchased, Eli rallied fellow Scouts from Troop 201 and began cutting and painting all of the supplies Aug. 20, �inishing this weekend. Eli hopes that his act of service serves inspires more acts of community service.

“I don’t need them to know how hard it was,” he said. “I just hope that they enjoy having a place to put all their stuff and it makes things easier on them.”

A senior at Saguaro High School, Eli will suit up for one more season at shortstop and third base for the school’s baseball program this spring. “I just hope that whoever uses it enjoys it and I think they should last for a long time.”

HINGORANI ���� ���� 19

Users can also share noteworthy events with friends and family. In addition, the app is a way to network with others in the same age group with common interests. In July 2021, Arnav was selected to participate in BYJU’S “18u18” competition, where 18 advanced coding students under 18 years of age globally compete for recognition. As a �inalist, he was then assigned a mentor to help develop his prototype into a functioning app. “I had to build the app on a certain (coding) language that was completely new to me. And you have to do it within about two months, so my mentor helped me to learn that language, transfer things over and then make more features,” Arnav said. “The new language was certainly very interesting, but just being able to think of a problem, being creative with it and building different functions of the app were all learning experiences.” My Life Resume, along with the other apps in the �inal stage of the competition, are in the process of being published on Google Play. Arnav isn’t waiting around, though. In fact, he’s already working on a new movie recommendation app that uses AI and machine learning concepts to rate movies and give users recommendations. “It is a very proud moment for me as a teacher to witness the success of my coding student, Arnav,” Agnihotri said. “I feel that I was able to help him learn and pass along my knowledge, technical concepts and experience in coding. I wish Arnav a bright future and all the best.” Arnav said he plans to keep learning and continue to build.

Naresh joked that maybe Arnav will create an app that helps with tennis and combine his two hobbies. Or, Naresh said, maybe Arnav will become a chef, because he also loves to cook in his free time.

Whatever it may be, he knows his son has learned a lot and has a bright future.

“I believe learning AI and Data Science are table stakes for all students in the future,” Naresh said. “Studying coding has developed Arnav’s approach to solving complex problems and, as a parent, it’s gratifying to watch his progress.” The “18u18” �inalist, national tennis champion, national math champion, Taekwondo black belt holder and beginner chef currently attends ASU Preparatory Academy.