Mission accomplished. Youth from the 2015 Urban Apps & Maps Studios Summer BITS program proudly showcased the product of their hard work at the program’s annual open house this month.

Temple University staff and community members attended the Aug. 13 showcase to see the students’ app concepts and the user interfaces they created for them. The three-hour showcase was held at the university’s Alter Hall, home of the Fox School of Business. Knight Foundation supports the six-week, paid summer program for Philadelphia high school students to help prepare the next generation of urban civic entrepreneurs. The program also offers yearlong internships.

This year, the summer program boasted 144 participants. Students worked in groups creating apps to address community issues. There were nine presentations during the showcase. In the fall, one member from each group will return to the university to continue the backend work on their respective apps. The university will also provide technical and marketing research support for participants seeking to make their app available to the public or to profit from it.

“My group and I wanted to build an app that would combine something beneficial to the community and neurology. We figured that a mood-tracking app would be a great middle ground,” said 12th-grader Hikma Salhe, who worked on the SANTI social media app with her group. The app allows people to connect and share their thoughts and feelings.

Santi means peace in the Hindi language.

Seventeen-year-old junior, Tahmidul Bhuiyan, along with his group members, presented the WorkIt Philly app to help reduce the high obesity rate in Philadelphia. The group conducted a community assessment and discovered residents were not sure about nutrition and what exercises they should do to keep fit and healthy.

The app, tailored to both males and females, allows users to select one of two health goal options: to lose weight or stay fit. The workout options run the gamut from people who are new to exercise to bodybuilders, athletes, and people who do yoga. The app also offers nutrition information and highlights nearby stores where users can purchase affordable healthy food.

“Our app is different because we have a community meetup aspect where people can register to meet up together depending on their ZIP code or the area they live in,” said Bhuiyan. “Any trainer or any normal user can host a meetup.”

Eleventh-grader Jeffrey Cook and his fellow group members, who presented a live demo at the showcase, created the Foodocracy app allowing users to find food trucks based on the user’s location. Users can also adjust their profile settings to locate trucks based on food preferences.

The app idea was born after their group research showed that every other person in their community preferred to dine out or order takeout but faced challenges in knowing the kind of food available, food truck hours and payment options.

Beyond creating an app, Cook noted another takeaway from participating in the program.

“It’s opened my eyes to what the future of technology will be in the world, and I feel as though I can offer a lot to the world of technology.

Monica Peters is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer. Email her at [email protected].