Details of the Australian winners of the WWDC 2023 Swift Student Challenge have been announced, with two Aussie students set to attend in person, with a select group of developers, students and media to attend, while the rest of the world will join virtually.

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is a yearly event that not only features the major opening keynote, not only showcasing the latest developments for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, but has also been the platform for new hardware releases, as well as a second, more-in depth developer-focused keynote called Platforms State of the Union.

For the last 12 years, Apple has also held a formal student challenge, which has since morphed into the WWDC Swift Student Challenge. Details of the challenge and four of the five Australian winners is below, after a recording of the radio interview conducted with William Laverty, which also featured his father Martin, that took place on Saturday the 27th of May.

The interview was the first part of the Tech Segment that I do each week from 10.30am to 11am on Radio 2CC Canberra, as part of the Canberra Weekender show, which is hosted by Tatjana Clancy on Saturday mornings until midday.

As you’ll see below, this is the second time William (who is also known interchangeably as Will and Bill) has won the Swift Student Challenge, and it is the first time he will be able to attend in person, given the pandemic caused so many events, including WWDC 2020, 2021 and 2022 to be online-only events.

After the video below, you’ll find more information on Apple’s WWDC, and a list of the Australian winners alongside additional detail, so please listen to the radio program below, and read on!

This year, WWDC 2023 runs from June 5 to 9, US time, and kicks off with the always highly anticipated opening keynote, and also features a series of sessions that go deeper into the newest aspects of programming for Apple’s latest operating systems, with lots of time to talk to Apple’s programming experts.

This year’s WWDC is also expected to release a new operating system called xrOS or “extended reality operating system”, which will power a special new XR headset that blends both virtual and augment reality, with plenty of detail on how to create engaging apps that will, it is hoped and expected, finally get virtual and augmented reality right.

This new headset is heavily rumoured to definitely be arriving, and while it will likely be a developer-focused version that will sell for at least US $3000, in preparation for more affordable versions in the future with sleeker designs to come. A new 15-inch MacBook Air is expected, and we may also see a new M2-powered iMac, and maybe also new Mac Pro models.

Here’s more on the Swift Student Challenge:

Apple launched the Swift Student Challenge as an opportunity for student developers to showcase their love of coding.

  • This is the 12th year of a formal WWDC student program. Apple has run a formal program for students at WWDC since 2011, and has hosted thousands of students at the conference.
  • Student developers from all over the world submitted to the Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in a Swift playground.
  • Winners will receive exclusive WWDC23 outerwear, AirPods Pro, a customised pin set, and one year of membership in the Apple Developer Program.

Here are details of four of the five Australian winners, we’re seeking extra information on the fifth winner and will add that when it becomes available. I will be contacting the other winners to see if they are willing to be video interviewed by me, but in the meantime, William Laverty and his father Martin were interviewed by myself and Tatjana Clancy, and can be heard above!

1) William Laverty

  • William is a 15-year-old student from Canberra Grammar School in the ACT. This is his 3rd year applying and this will be his second year as a WWDC Student Scholarship winner having previously won in 2021.
  • William taught himself to code in primary school when he was 8 after he saw some of the seniors at his school coding.
  • Recently he’s built a cooking recipe app to help his mum and a music app to help you play song on a mini piano.
  • For his winning entry this year he created an App which focuses on a real world problem, pollution. With the theme of climate change in mind you can play as a penguin or a whale, swimming and avoiding trash.
  • William is one of two students from Australia attending the US event at Apple Park in person!

2) Jesaiah Creek

  • Jesaiah is 15-year-old student from St George Christian School in New South Wales.
  • He is a self-taught coder, teaching himself at the age of 13.
  • His entry, PocketsSax, is an app that allows anyone to play an instrument transcending financial restrictions or disabilities, particularly those hypersensitive to noise
  • He has a love for music and plays the Saxophone and Bass Guitar and found that by combining his loves for both app development and music he could be most passionate.
  • In order to teach other kids his age how to code he has started a lunchtime course teaching fellow students at his school.

More information on Jesaiah’s win is here.

3) David Mazzeo

  • David is a 14-year-old student from St Francis Xavier College in Victoria. This is his second year applying having also previously won in 2022.
  • David taught himself to code at the age of 8 starting on an iPad at home.
  • His entry, a game called Interstellar, tells the short story of two experts chasing a newly uncovered Ancient Greek myth in order to save their waning planet.
  • David had his first app, CounterPlusMinus, on the App Store when he was only 12 which and now has 9 apps available on the App Store most of them stemming from something he was missing in his daily life.
  • His most popular app is called Moment in Time, a timekeeper which allows you to keep track of your day.
  • He’s a passionate coder and hopes to keep creating useful apps that solve an issue in every day life.

4) Darren Sandra

  • Darren is a 14-year-old student from Baulkham Hills High School in New South Wales. This is his first year entering the Swift Student Challenge.
  • Darren only taught himself how to code last year and is already seeing success.
  • His entry is a learning App, teaching multiple lessons on how to make your app designs more accessible to those with disabilities such as visual impairment or cognitive.
  • He also has a web app BellTime, which tells you the bell times and school updates which is used by hundreds of local students from Baulkham Hills High, James Ruse Agricultural High School and Hornsby Girls.
  • Darren is one of two students from Australia attending the US event at Apple Park in person!

5) There is also a fifth winner, this article will be updated with those details when they can be confirmed.