- Lenovo, NAF partnership promotes STEM studies across U.S.
- 2017 Lenovo Mobile App Development program “Fan Favorite” selected from online public voting
- Lenovo Scholar Network is open to all 600+ NAF academies across the United States to apply and will serve more than 3,000 NAF students in the upcoming 2017-18 academic year
(DALLAS) – July 11, 2017: Lenovo today announced at the 2017 NAF Next Conference this year’s 2017 Lenovo Scholar Network “Fan Favorite” mobile app honoree. Following the top five apps announcement of this year’s national Lenovo Scholar Network mobile app development competition, Lenovo and NAF invited the winning teams from five NAF academies to showcase the apps they developed at this year’s conference in Dallas, Texas.
The final five were chosen by a panel of judges, including representatives from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), members of education and tech media, Lenovo leadership, and NAF alumni who were previously part of the Lenovo Scholar Network. Online voting between May 16 – July 10 determined the final “Fan Favorite” winner, CPRonDemand, from Enloe High School Academy of Health Science in Raleigh, NC.
CPRonDemand is a user-friendly app that guides the user through CPR in the event of cardiac arrest. Click here for a short video demonstration of CPRonDemand.
The mobile app competition is part of the Lenovo Scholar Network, a partnership that Lenovo and NAF created in 2014 to encourage greater interest among underserved high school students in STEM subjects, while enabling them with entrepreneurial and technology skills needed to pursue careers in computer science, programming and engineering. Teams from 50 NAF academies developed nearly 100 apps during the 2016-2017 academic year as part of the program, powered by Lenovo-provided ThinkPad laptops and Yoga tablets to aid in development, coding, and testing of apps.
At NAF Next, each of the winning student teams presented its winning app. In addition to CPRonDemand from Enloe High School Academy of Health Science, the other four winning app teams from the national competition who presented were:
| App Name | NAF Academy | Location | App description |
| Alacrity | Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology | Charlotte, NC | An elegant natural disaster preparation app designed to prepare anyone when disaster is about to strike. |
| Iris | Pathways Academy of Technology & Design | East Hartford, CT | This app connects college communities for student success. |
| Welcome to IB! | Detroit Edison Public School Academy | Detroit, MI | Taking the stress out of IB, one project at a time. |
| Where’s Our Bus App? | Olympic Executive Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development High School | Charlotte, NC | Missed the bus again? Just by a few seconds this time? If only there was a way to not make that mistake anymore! |
Learn more about this year’s winners here. The “Fan Favorite” team will also receive state-of-the-art technology, courtesy of Lenovo.
“The Lenovo Scholar Network ‘Fan Favorite’ is a highlight of NAF Next each year, as it is an outstanding opportunity to showcase the hard work and creativity of our students to the entire NAF network and allow for one to take home an additional honor,” said NAF President, JD Hoye. “Congratulations to this year’s ‘Fan Favorite’ winner and all of the winning student teams who participated – you all should be very proud of your accomplishments!”
“Investing in STEM education, and organizations like NAF, are important to Lenovo because these young people are the next generation of talent that will contribute to our company’s future innovation and success,” said Rob Cato, executive director, Public Sector, Workstation & OEM Sales at Lenovo, who presented the Fan Favorite award to CPRonDemand from Enloe High School Academy of Health Science on Tuesday, July 11, 2017.
Lenovo Scholar Network expands to serve more than 3,000 NAF students for the 2017-2018 school year
In its first year, 10 NAF IT academies were invited with a goal of reaching 250 students and surpassed its goal by serving more than 400 students nationwide. As the Lenovo Scholar Network prepares to enter its fourth year, it is expected to serve more than 3,000 NAF students across the country.
As part of the Lenovo Scholar Network, students work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab’s App Inventor development tool, a web-based tool for creating Android apps, to build and test their apps on Lenovo devices. NAF and MIT work together to provide technical assistance to teachers in the Lenovo Scholar Network and to develop support materials for teachers using MIT App Inventor.
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About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$43 billion global Fortune 500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and multimode Yoga brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Motorola brand), tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@Lenovo) or visit us at www.lenovo.com.
About NAF
NAF is a national network of education, business, and community leaders who work together to ensure that high school students are college, career, and future ready.
NAF works with high need communities to transform the high school experience through an educational design that includes industry-specific curricula, work-based learning experiences, and relationships with business professionals, culminating in a paid internship. NAF academies fit within and enhance school systems, allowing NAF to become an integral part of a plan for higher achievement at a low cost. NAF academies focus on one of five career themes: finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. During the 2016-17 school year, more than 96,000 students attended 675 NAF academies across 36 states, including D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2016, NAF academies reported 96% of seniors graduated with 92% of graduates with post-secondary intentions. For more information, please visit: http://naf.org/
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