In a moment of immense pride for Himachal Pradesh, Shourya Thakur, a pre-final year B.Tech Computer Science student at SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), Kattankulathur, has become the first and only student from the state to be named a Distinguished Winner in Apple’s global Swift Student Challenge 2026.
Selected from thousands of submissions worldwide, Shourya was recognised as one of just 50 Distinguished Winners globally, a rare honour that places him among the most promising young innovators. Overall, Apple selected 350 winners for the competition.
His award-winning project, ‘Purl Stead’, is an innovative iPad playground application that uses on-device artificial intelligence to detect early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease by analysing hand movements. The application is designed with privacy at its core, ensuring all data processing takes place directly on the device without compromising user information.
As part of the recognition, Apple invited Shourya to its headquarters at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, for the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2026. During the exclusive three-day Distinguished Winner programme, he attended Apple’s keynote sessions and developer events at the Steve Jobs Theater.
A key highlight of the visit was a personal interaction with Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with senior leaders including John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering; Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering; Susan Prescott, Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations; and Esther Hare, Senior Director.
In recognition of his achievement, Shourya received Apple’s exclusive Distinguished Winner award package, which included AirPods Max 2, an official certificate, and a personal letter from Susan Prescott.
