Apple picks Calgary teen after he takes a bite out of math problems with tasty app

A Calgary teen is headed to Silicon Valley after Apple picked him to receive a scholarship for growing a fresh app that helps students take a bite out of math.

About a year ago Aiden Olfert realized existing iPhone apps for mathematics didn't really leave him with a good taste in his mouth.

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"All the other mathappsseemed too complicated, so I built this to be easy,"OlferttoldCBCCalgary News at 6on Thursday.

And Divi was born.

"It was my first project to help me in school because with math, I had a really weak foundation for recognizing and recalling fast, quick facts for multiplication. I had just started learning coding at that time so I built an app to help me and hopefully others," Olfert said.

"It gives the user a number and they have to figure out what that number is divisible by: the first term, the second term, both terms or neither."

Then, the 15-year-old got the idea to share his app with the big guys.

"Every year Apple hosts the Worldwide Developers Conference conference in June. I decided this year, because they have a scholarship program, that I would apply," he said.

Aiden Olfert's app attracts Apple scholarship

6 years ago

Duration 3:56

Aiden Olfert's app attracts Apple scholarship

"I got an email on my phone saying I won this WWDC scholarship and I just freaked out. I was just so excited."

Olfert heads to Silicon Valley, his first time in California, early next month.

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With files from CBC Calgary News at 6 and Andrew Ng