2019 - Blockchain Innovation Competition!
Written by: Andrew M-BountyBase, Drew Goretzka, Gigi Ngcobo
Spartan Blockchain hosted a Blockchain Innovation Conference with a series of events located throughout East Lansing, including a community meet-up, think tank and a pitch contest. Sponsors for the event were IBM, Deloitte, Lake Trust Credit Union, BountyBase, AJ Boggs & Company, and EOS Detroit.
One of the most well-attended events of the weekend was the think tank, which had over 40 students, faculty, sponsor personnel, and other attendees. It gave Michigan State University (MSU), the East Lansing community, and sponsors an open forum to discuss how MSU can continue to integrate blockchain more deeply into their campus, in addition to the courses, events, and growing community that interest in blockchain and Spartan Blockchain has already been developing.
The think tank was followed by a community meetup that allowed students and the East Lansing community members to connect and collaborate on innovative blockchain projects.
Saturday’s pitch contest started behind a wave of excitement due to sponsor Lake Trust Credit Union announcing they would double the pitch contest prize from $750.00, to $1,500.00. The top award went to Smartifi, which is a prospective solution for the student-loan crisis.
Spartan Blockchain’s event was supported by MSU’s administration with Jeff Rayis the Director of Treasury and Financial Management stating, “[the university] still believe there is a great opportunity in the [blockchain] space. We are still in it and wants to keep it going until we have applications, and then take it even further,”. Rayis highlights MSU’s understanding of the group’s unique position to accelerate not only the exploration and research on blockchain but to integrate it into the campus.
The weekend’s conference is just the beginning of blockchain at MSU. In the fall, the school will be opening a blockchain lab, which will be a joint venture between the business and law school. The school is taking a community approach to the project by slowly extending their ecosystem outward to some of the leading innovators in the industry.
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