RADFORD – Computer science majors Daniel Burgess and David Payne received $1,000 first runner up and $500 third place prizes respectively in the Governor Timothy M. Kaine’s “Learning Apps Development Challenge” this summer.

The iPhone applications were designed under the mentorship of Matt Dunleavy in the College of Education and Human Development as a part of the Gaming, Animation, Modeling and Simulations Lab at Radford University. Burgess’ application “Freddy Fraction” challenges students to demonstrate their knowledge of fractions, decimals and percentages as they help an alien find his lost spaceship.

Payne’s application “Fraction Factory” features a conveyor belt bearing fractions which must be placed in correct sequence at the top of the screen. Burgess says his project “certainly has cemented my decision to go into software engineering, as well as opened my eyes to a number of possibilities that I wouldn’t have thought realistic for me otherwise.”