Roadmap of Blockchain at San Diego
What is Blockchain at San Diego?
Blockchain at San Diego (BaSD - “based”) is a community of builders, researchers, and educators passionate about the innovation happening on the blockchain, run by students at UCSD. Hacking DeFi projects, designing NFTs, and teaching people about blockchain while researching novel blockchain solutions are only some examples of what we plan to do. We’re also looking to grow the blockchain community at UCSD and welcome people from all backgrounds to join us, regardless of experience.
Three Pillars of BaSD
- Educate
- Research
- Build
Educate. We will educate UCSD students about blockchain through our virtual and in-person events. We’re currently (Fall 2021) hosting workshops to provide students with a comprehensive overview of the blockchain industry. We’ll also be hosting other events including guest speaker chats, AMAs, socials, and debates throughout the quarter. Later sections of this article elaborate on workshops and other events.
Research. We will dive deeper into the novel mechanisms of blockchain, cryptography, economics, and philosophy. The blockchain industry innovates at breakneck speed and we all have to be infinite learners to keep up. Research allows us to understand protocols from first principles, which is helpful for debating and implementing those ideas. Some of our members are already working with BlockLAB at the San Diego Supercomputer Center.
Build. We will kickstart the development of blockchain applications for various sectors of the industry. Using knowledge from workshops/events and research, we’ll be designing and implementing Web3 apps from start to finish. From NFT marketplaces to DeFi structured products, we are planning to undertake projects that will have users in the “real” world. The team is currently designing a Web3 commerce layer for UC campuses.
Events
Workshops
This Fall (2021), we’ll host Intro to Blockchain, an introductory course to blockchain and its applications. The workshops will be hosted bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 7 pm (Announced on Discord). Students from all backgrounds and levels of experience are welcome. The breadth and depth of the workshop material are designed to equip students with sufficient knowledge and tools to continue the exploration into other aspects of blockchain on their own.
We’re aiming to host more workshops in subsequent quarters, including Blockchain Development where we teach Smart Contract development.
Speakers
Pretty self-explanatory. BaSD will host events alongside industry experts and thought leaders of crypto to enlighten us on different blockchain topics. DAOs, Oracles, NFTs, Farming, Lending, you name it. You will also get a chance to ask questions during AMA sessions. Will usually be virtual.
Socials
We recognize the importance of a strong community in the blockchain space. Social events are a way to connect with one another over boba or pizza. It’s a chance to have deeper conversations about blockchain and other aspects of the space that we may not have discussed publicly. Most of all, they are simply fun times to connect with people who share the same passion.
Debate
Debates are a new concept the team came up with. They are virtual and in-person events that allow students to debate blockchain topics in the field of computer science, economics, politics, philosophy, and many more disciplines. These events are structured with specific topics selected ahead of time. A question we might want to ask in a debate: why does Bitcoin have value?
What we have in store
We have many exciting things planned for 2022, as shown above. However, we’ll get to that when the time comes. In the meantime, enjoy our events in the Fall and chat with us on Discord about anything and everything related to blockchain.
