I’m Brad Jorgensen (right) with my dad Karl Jorgensen (left). We are the software engineers responsible for building the application that supports the child health data collection for the foundation. In other words, we build and maintain the app that is used in the field.

We are both avid outdoorsmen and software engineers by trade. Karl built the app about 7 years ago and has been maintaining it since. I have been involved with the software intermittently for the past 7 years while I was finishing my degree and starting my first job as a software engineer. We now share the responsibility, with me taking the lead.

The app is a Chrome Web app, which makes it usable across any device that has access to Google Chrome. The app looks and acts just like a website, but with the ability to work while offline. The app provides three key functions: error checking and data collection, computation of health data to determine a child’s malnutrition level, and administrative report creation for analytics. As children are rescreened at 6-month intervals, the app provides a visiual representation of their progress.

It takes an incredibly large workforce to help so many children around the world. Thank you to all involved in this great work! The featured image, at the top, is from a trip to Guatemala we took in December 2017 to release new features on the app and train the volunteers who use it.

The app records the age, height, weight, and arm circumference
of children during initial screenings and at 6-month followups