Computer science student wins ThinkChicago Civic Tech Challenge

Computer science student Omer Khan recently placed first in the ThinkChicago Civic Tech Challenge. The competition seeks technical solutions to improve the city of Chicago.

Khan and his team presented an app that allows Chicago citizens to report traffic issues, broken signals and potholes just by taking a picture. The city can then use the phone's location services to track where the photo was taken and fix the issue. He also created a way to reward local businesses for helping.

The team placed first out of 175 students and received a 4-day pass to next year's Lollapalooza music festival, guaranteed admission to the summer ThinkChicago event, and interest from Chicago tech startups.