Swift Student Challenge Winner: WWDC Story
- Driven by her grandmother's experience during recent Los angeles wildfires, Marina Lee, a 21-year-old computer science student at the University of Southern California, developed EvacuMate.
- Lee said the urgency to create the app stemmed from witnessing her grandmother's confusion during an evacuation alert.
- Lee developed the app in about a month and submitted it to Apple's Swift Student Challenge.
Marina Lee, a USC student, clinches the Swift Student Challenge, earning a coveted spot at WWDC 2025 with her innovative app, EvacuMate.Driven by personal experience, Lee designed EvacuMate to streamline wildfire preparedness, assisting users in creating essential checklists and safeguarding vital documents—a timely solution highlighted in News Directory 3. Her dedication underlines the power of coding to solve real-world problems. Lee’s journey from initial concept to WWDC winner showcases her coding prowess. she encourages young coders and is now looking toward her future. Find out what inspires this rising star next as she brings her app to the Worldwide Developers Conference.
USC Student Creates EvacuMate App for wildfire Preparedness
Updated June 09, 2025
Driven by her grandmother’s experience during recent Los angeles wildfires, Marina Lee, a 21-year-old computer science student at the University of Southern California, developed EvacuMate. The app aims to ease the stress of wildfire evacuations by helping users prepare essential checklists and store critical documents.
Lee said the urgency to create the app stemmed from witnessing her grandmother’s confusion during an evacuation alert. EvacuMate allows users to upload copies of important documents, create emergency contact lists, monitor air quality, and assemble first-aid kits, all within their iPhones.
Lee developed the app in about a month and submitted it to Apple’s Swift Student Challenge. Despite the tight deadline, her coding experience, which began in middle school, enabled her to complete the project. She focused on the app’s design and practical features, gathering feedback from friends and family throughout the progress process.
Out of 350 submissions, Lee was among the 50 distinguished winners invited to Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The conference, scheduled for June 9-13, 2025, will feature new technology and software. Other winners include Taiki Hamomoto from Japan, Luciana ortiz Nolasco from Mexico, and Nahom Worku, who grew up in Ethiopia and Canada.
“I definitely look forward to meeting other swift Student Challenge winners [at WWDC].”
Marina Lee
lee, who is currently interning at Amazon as a front-end engineer, hopes to continue merging her passions for creativity, art, and coding after graduation. She encourages young people interested in coding to participate in hackathons, which provide opportunities for collaboration and learning.
What’s next
Lee plans to attend the WWDC conference and continue developing her skills in web design and user interface development at Amazon. She also aims to stay involved in the hackathon community, mentoring other young coders.