An Introduction to Blockchain@IU
During this post, we want to formally introduce ourselves through Medium. We plan to use Medium as a core means of communication with our members, the IU community, and to the wider blockchain space.
Blockchain@IU is a student organization that is committed to advancing the education, development, and investment of blockchain and its related technologies. Our goal is to become the hub for all things blockchain for Indiana University as well as the wider Bloomington community. Our organization seeks to be a source of information and education for all individuals looking to learn more about blockchain regardless of their background. We plan to reach this goal by launching multiple unique initiatives geared towards our three pillars: education, development, and investment. The year has already gotten off to a great start with our successful Blockchain 101: Build a Block workshop.
This workshop was split into parts; the first day covered blockchain theory and its applications and the second day was a hands-on tutorial led by the Code@IU team in which they taught students how to build a simple block using Python. This workshop was meant to give students a good basic understanding of what blockchain is, how it works, and what its applications are in today’s world. With over fifty people in attendance and lively discussion, it became evident that IU’s student body is interested in the blockchain.
Building off the success of our initial blockchain 101 workshop, we have put on other informative events such as our Careers in Blockchain event where industry professionals from firms such as Citizen’s Reserve and Strata Labs came to speak.
Our most recent event, IU’s first Women in Blockchain panel was our most successful with over 85 people in attendance. We had representatives from IU faculty, IBM, and ConsenSys come down to speak about their personal journeys, career paths within the blockchain industry, and their thoughts about the outlook of the technology. We heard some great points of view and lively discussion from the audience as well!
Our goal is to make progress in understanding and building applications using this technology. We plan to host more events, run workshops, host use-case demos, and hold competitions to achieve this goal. Our investment and development committees are already hard at work in educating themselves on the foundations of the blockchain. This will allow them to pursue higher-level projects in the future. But as with any movement, it’s the people who are instrumental in making it successful. In addition to our exec board and active members, all listed on our website, the support from IU faculty and our corporate sponsors help us advance our organization in a productive manner.
Listed below are the wonderful faculty and advisors who are supporting us in achieving our vision.
Russ Clark
Professor Clark is a faculty lecturer in the Operations and Decision Technologies Department at Kelley, as well as Co-Director of the Supply Chain Academy. He is a Kelley MBA alum with 25 years’ experience in consulting, management, and executive roles across clients and companies such as Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Nationwide Insurance, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Cummins, and OneAmerica Financial Partners. His teaching experience includes leading courses in Strategic Planning, Organizational Change Management, Operations and Supply Chain Management, and Project Management at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Russ is a certified Professional Scrum Master and Professional Scrum Product Owner.
Mike Xu
Mr. Xu has been our main point of contact at ConsenSys, a market leading blockchain technology company focused on the Web 3.0. With their help, we have been able to put on the many different events IU has come to know and love this past year.
