BBW25 - Day 1 - Innovation in the Universities

Okay, we're going to continue this conversation about universities and schools and colleges, but from the student perspective this time. So, we're going to have uh Tavashi Chattervetti who's the vice president of the Babson College Blockchain Club. uh Anthony Cobb who's the president of the Harvard undergraduate blockchain club, Michael Sun, the president of the BU blockchain which is part of Boston University and this conversation is going to be led by Ryan Hawos who is an MBA candidate at Boston University also on the Boston blockchain week team. Please join me in welcoming them to the stage. Hello How's everybody feeling?

It's been quite a day. [Music]

Who's been here since the pitch competition this morning?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you for sticking around. I know we are still going here, but this is just the first day of a great series of panels and meetups and afterparties and so much more going on with Boston Blockchain Week. So, thank you all for coming and making this the community that really is driving innovation in Boston and beyond.

And today we have uh three great panelists. We one of them couldn't make it with us today here uh with his Uber driver getting into a car accident sadly, but we still have the three best ones here with us today. And I'm going to let them intro themselves. I am Brian Hawkos, an MBA candidate at BEu, really involved in this community space and have been trying to help drive innovation when it comes to adding the students and building this community and driving the change in norms that we really need for further adoption. Uh, I'll kick it off to Antonia here.

Hi, I'm Antonia Cobb. I'm the president of the Harvard undergraduate blockchain club and I'm a sophomore at Harvard studying electrical engineering and economics and our club is really focused on building this ecosystem of builders, developers and really promoting blockchain on campus.

Hi everyone, my name is Tavishi and I am vice president of Patterson acceleration club. uh my most of the time goes in um evaluating startups getting to know different kinds of startups happening within the campus and outside the campus because this time we're trying to collaborate with as many universities as possible. So that's an exciting job getting to know different ideas on daily basis.

Hi uh I'm Michael Sun the president for Boston University Blockchain Club. I'm a junior studying finance. Um so we have a really active student community at Boston University. At the club we mainly do workshops kind of in the financial and the technology field. Uh we also do um we go to hackathons, events, conferences just trying to get more exposure to students and personally I'm also an investor and entrepreneur in the investor space.

So with all these students and club leaders, they're all so busy hosting events and attending conferences and hackathons and winning hackathons as Tvishi had done at the hackathon I hosted this spring. Uh there was also BEu students there and we uh also helped mentor with EA hackathon that was part of the Harvard blockchain conference. And I know we're early in the semester still, but what do you guys have on the docket for your clubs and personally? We have a lot of programming for this year. Our main focus is again bringing blockchain to campus.

So whether this is bringing chains or different companies and hosting workshops or even hackathons as we did with EZA this past weekend. Um and obviously hosting our Harvard blockchain conference that we host every year in collaboration also this year with um Harvard Business School and also the Harvard Law School and really promoting this ecosystem.

Um in Bapsson College we are uh as we do it every year we take two major events that happen. One is Boston Shark night which is in collaboration with Silicon Valley Bank and the other one is an intensive acceleration course which happens for three months. We uh we get uh mentors from different fields and from different um perspectives in when it comes to startups and the startup students who are here to build their startup and try to get uh better understanding and guidance from from the mentors we are getting them to introduce to. So these are the two but the other thing that we are trying to introduce within the club is uh how blockchain is getting so much uh audience in this recent times and how we're building so many innovative ideas around blockchain in crypto. Uh I have my friends personally who are working in crypto uh mining and industries who are very much interested and keen on understanding more about it.

So we're trying to get mentors who can help these students uh to build their startup from the ground and get into club mixers with different universities and try to make it a better ecosystem for students.

And that's one thing I think we've seen in the last couple years but even more so in the last year or so is just the collaborative nature of the university space and ecosystem. There's more and more cross-campus events that are going on that are really driving the quality of the campus experience I think for students with cross-campus mixers and other sorts of hackathons or attending conferences and events like this. And it's just a very collaborative environment with different clubs and universities working together to host events and you know work together on products and startups that are becoming the future. Yeah. Um, so in terms of BEu, we actually have a lot of events lined up.

Um, so over the past we've been to a Harvard conference, MIT conferences, uh, Bitcoin Asia consensus and for the upcoming semester, we're actually thinking of hosting our own beginner hackathon and pitch us on for like people who just got into uh, blockchain who just started learning about what block what is blockchain, what is web three uh to give them opportunity to build in the space. Uh, also there's a Midwest conference. uh so targeted for university students. Uh so yeah, we're just trying to bring students to as many conferences as possible and stuff like this is a great way for people to really get engaged and we've talked so much today and at other conferences about how we can further educate people and get people involved in understanding what blockchain can do. uh students when they I hear so many stories of people who get involved and they get involved on that student side, go to a conference and start to network and understand really what this space is all about which is really great.

The next thing I want to turn to is we're all in the university ecosystems and at times it is so inspiring and so innovative but also it does seem like things are kind of lacking at times. I know we talked about that pre-all. Do you guys want to touch on that piece to the university space? Yeah, I can speak to that. Um, at least at Harvard, we have a very competitive club atmosphere and so everybody's attentions are either with consulting VC or the traditional CS pathways.

And I'm always blown away when especially for CS students, I say, "Oh, you know, you should join Harvard undergraduate blockchain." And they say, "What is blockchain?" And I think there's just something about not knowing what blockchain is and just educating people on, you know, what we actually do and the space. And I think Boston is so special because we have so many of these powerful educational institutions and also companies in general um all contributing to this larger you know goal of really bringing either blockchain to campus or just bringing blockchain into you know action. And so I really think at least from my perspective, our goal is just to get people to understand and bring awareness what blockchain is because there I've talked to so many students where they say, "Oh, I didn't know what blockchain was.

I went to one of your events and you know now I want to learn more about it or I want to take a course in solidity." Um, so I really think or even take your cryptography curriculum. So, I really think just bringing that awareness and I really do think it's the future of finance. Um, and so students who don't know about it, I think they're just really missing out and that's what we're doing in this recruiting cycle is really bringing awareness.

And so, Antonio also that I remember the club was looking into curriculum itself, right? Because the universities and this is every university. I'm not targeting Harvard here. We all have maybe one blockchain professor and they're really great professors and more people should take those courses, but when you only have one class and it barely touches on maybe only cryptography or we're just scraping the surface on blockchain 101, like you guys were thinking about even doing your own curriculum. Is that correct?

Exactly. Because we really found that as you said, it really does just scrape the surface. Um, and there's so much more that people can learn, students can learn. Um, and so that's kind of been one of our goals. And it's kind of been a two-year progress and process.

Um, but really kind of building this curriculum to, you know, teach kids how to, you know, build smart contracts or even just deploying or just tokenization. Um so really kind of the fundamentals but also showing the opportunities and saying you know no there's real world implications and applications for you know institutionwide.

Yeah.

Um when it comes to talking about blockchain in our university I have seen particular professors actually introducing those topics into their curriculum. Um especially when it comes to fintech um they are trying to educate their students uh about blockchain considering how much uh of the audience it has acquired from recent times and also about crypto about mining about uh tokenization. I completely agree with what you said that it it is a long journey at least as of now but slowly we are getting there. For example, me I until winter break I was not aware of blockchain and then suddenly winter break this uh we had a business case competition in BU and then I got sudden interest in that I have to do it I have to be in it is amazing so it's just a matter of time uh students getting to know about it it is catching their attention and what innovations they can do around it uh within at least 24 to 48 hours of time during the hackathons or the case competitions that they come up with amazing ideas. It's it is really a proof that students do know what to do in this area.

It's just a proper push or a proper mentoring can help them do much better.

Yeah, definitely. I totally agree with what y'all said. Um so from a student perspective and someone who's pretty active in the vestary space I definitely see a huge gap between what's being taught in school and what's going on in the space. This space moving so fast every single every single day right but in school the curriculum is been the same for years and I think that might have to come to like our club the club's responsibility to maybe just bring students and teaching them what is blockchain and what's going on with the technology. Um so quite interesting.

Um I took a course last semester on uh information systems but there was a supposed to be a section which is targeted um teaching about blockchain and cryptocurrencies but due to like limited time we actually took that section out and I was like yeah so I think there's definitely room to go that um we should there's there's still room for universities to improve and to like catch up with what's going on in the space. Um, yeah, and I think that's why we're here. And it it can be disheartening hearing people glossing over blockchain curriculum. Um, I'm also in a blockchain class at BEu, and I'm excited that I'm able to do that, but it's I had to opt into a very specific class and it's it's if we're trying to reach more people and get people understand what this means, it it is hard when it it isn't part of that kind of general curriculum. And um you know it's when I was out talking to people for Boston blockchain week and sharing and filming some footage for promotion for the conference.

I was talking to people on the street and a lot of people didn't really know what blockchain was or what I was really talking about and the community aspect is so important and just getting it out there to people. How do you guys see that we can kind of bring in the people in blockchain are this great ecosystem we have in Boston really the superpower of the city here with all the universities all the companies and the people operating like Boston blockchain association Boston DAO the VC groups how can everyone get engaged and involved and help the clubs be successful

um if I have to Uh if you remember we had a conversation backstage about uh mixing clubs, different universities, different clubs together and probably giving them a space to talk about their interest areas and their ideas about blockchain and crypto. That could be a very good start for us as a students and as a club leaders.

Uh yeah. So um although I think there's still room but I definitely see more students getting interested comparing to two years ago when like clubs are hiring there are definitely more students interested in the blockchain club. So I I think this past weekend we were trying to hire for our club and a lot of students are like oh this is the bouching club were like so interested to join and I think one thing that I noticed um kind of organizing the club is for all the students who are involved with the club over a semester the thing that they said the best or the best thing they said about the club is the community and I think that's the same as our industry right we have a really close community and everyone's trying to help each other to do this and um I think that's what's important especially when all the how the students come together uh to be the future of um the industry.

For us at least, it's really showing what's out there. Um I we're trying to have conversations of, you know, tradi to defi and really showing different trajectories because some people aren't even aware that these are possibilities. Um and also just bringing companies to campus and showing hosting workshops. um whether you know it's we're doing some quantum computing and encryption, but also um just bringing you know major chains and hosting workshops or even hackathons just kind of showing students like look what's out here. Um and I think that's kind of how our club is functioning at least.

It's here's the here's the resources. Um whether or not you take advantage of that is really up to you. Um, we've also tailored it towards technical-minded people, but also business because we understand, um, there's a lot of students who are just interested in the finance side or maybe they've been doing some trading, some investing. Um, so really, how do you tailor kind of the content and not just making it um, just techheavy?

Yeah, that's that's a really big part of this and why I'm a little sad that our uh, representative from the BC blockchain club couldn't join us today. They were their club is very focused on trading. the Harvard block uh sorry the BEu blockchain club was very focused on attending and competing in hackathons and going to conferences and I know there's still that drive for conferences but there is that shift towards hey let's educate people let's bring in maybe finance majors who don't know what's going on and on board them in fintech I know there's so much in this space that is such great opportunities but it is kind of like reaching those resources and I you know I this brings it back to like why like why does this matter why do the clubs matter why should we care as a community and engage And to me it's because this is not just oh we're being imposed on the universities and we're learning something but this is the edge of innovation right like what are what are you guys seeing on campus that is exciting you about innovation and blockchain too.

I think really the startup ecosystem that's kind of come out of it um through hackathons. I was just talking to EZA the other day and a lot of I mean they have a huge now network of all these companies that have either spun out of their hackathons or just the hackathons have inspired people to work together um and at least in my own experience um I was working on building a startup um which my brother actually co-founded Raora um which allow enables real estate developers and also fund managers to tokenize um and also share fractional ownership of properties um to retail and also institutional investors and we're very close to launching and I think that's also why I got involved in the Harvard undergraduate blockchain club was I really wanted to see what Harvard had to offer. Um and I was somewhat shocked by just the lack of awareness of other students. Um I think at least at Harvard um from what I've been told is that 2020 2021 was kind of the peak of the club and then collapse. Um and it's kind of ebbed and flowed ever since and kind of the numbers have fluctuated.

So it's really about I think students are finally realizing no this is there's a lot of either startup potential or just innovation in the space um and really kind of harnessing that innovative mindset and that's something we're trying to also work on is even creating like mini incubators or even uh partnering with some companies and just launching different initiatives. So it's really getting involved and being active in the space. I think that's really important um to say you're a blockchain club and then not really putting enough into the actual space. That's kind of what uh we really are working on this year is contributing and Boston is perfect for this. I mean we have so many amazing institutions and it really is ripe for innovation.

So, I I will say when I was walking around Northeastern last week putting up flyers for Boston Blockchain Week as a as a conference host, I was talking to the club leader and she attended the EA hackathon and joined a a random startup team of people who are not from her school and is now involved in that startup and they're out there helping uh solve bug bounties using blockchain as the mechanism for platforming the payments and outcomes of all that. and she got involved in that and is really really engaged from this blockchain ecosystem and this innovation space is one that I've heard over and over again is like the students are not constrained by the full-on corporate life yet and there's so much innovation thereishi with the accelerator club what are you guys seeing blockchain or not that's exciting you

um I would definitely say that there are uh especially students from finance department who are very much into investing and we have a department we have a space where they can actually do online trading like live it's not just a demo so uh in that sense Babson has really provided a better ecosystem for any students who want to do startup or irrespective of which area that is and irrespective of which stage your uh startup is it's just as long as you have an idea, Babson is there to support it. And there are a number of opportunities Babson provides in terms of investing in your startups in terms of we have a beta beta challenge that happens annually every year and that is literally like providing um thousands of dollars just to invest in their startup in a student startup not that means that uh the college takes it very seriously. But when it comes to blockchain, um I think we have recently last year in my cohort, I have seen many uh finance department students getting involved into crypto and then uh getting into hackathons and case competitions and that's actually when they realized they have pretty good ideas that they can take support from Babson College and they can start their own startup and probably get some funding by pitch competitions which happens in Bapsson acceleration club. uh which is as I mentioned an intensive three months uh uh curriculum you have you take a training and then you have a pitch competition which now we are trying to expand it to different universities so maybe uh from different universities uh if they have blockchain ideas or if they have any ideas which is into crypto they can definitely take help of our uh club and they can try to move forward from Okay.

Yeah, it is it is great seasoning. The the universities as a platform for that and I know uh all the innovation centers have really worked hard to make things available for people and they're always looking for mentors and people willing to engage with the students. So that's great to hear that you guys are being so successful with that. And I know Babson's so focused on entrepreneurship. I've had some friends come out doing some really creative stuff there.

Yeah. So for us too, previously we've been focused on hackathons. A lot of great ideas come from hackathons. Um some of our students after hackathon uh won the prize, they started working on a startup and actually being able to raise money and access to startups. Uh so definitely I think we are still focusing on that.

Another thing is uh we are trying to just build a platform for you enable students to able to turn the ideas into a real project and then not afraid to you know lose or like um just able to push their ideas and bring it to real life and I think a lot of great ideas come from the student student group and that's a time where we kind of don't have to worry about other things. Um, so yeah, definitely trying to work on that and get more students involved in thinking uh in beauty

and that that really brings it home as as someone who's been involved with my MBA in student clubs as well, I feel like it's just been without being involved on the club side. there's something missing from the academic experience in my opinion where it really is making those connections ourselves, bringing those people into the school, having those conversations and that's you're not going to get that in a class. Even if someone comes and speaks to your class, that's a really great opportunity. But it's so formulized, it's so structured that there's something organic about the club experience and you guys as leaders are really driving that and are a really big piece of this whole campus experience for so many students. Um, so just kind of wrapping up here with the last few minutes, what are you excited about on campus with your club personally that you're seeing in blockchain?

I really want to leave it open-ended and for you to talk about what you're interested in.

Um, yeah. So, so I think there actually two parts that talks about like how education combines with blockchain, right? The first part is about just teaching blockchain AI to the student group. Uh, and I think that's what we have been doing. And the second part is integrating blockchain uh to the educational system.

And I think that's what we're missing right now and that's what we're trying to do. So get getting hands-on experiences um allowing students create their own wallets uh build smart contracts, build their own AI agents. Um I think that's the two tracks that we're focusing on. Um I uh I would say that a very exciting thing that is going to happen probably next month if our schedules match is having a club mixer for all our um universities and just giving space for the students to talk about their interests and ideas. And the second thing that I'm very interested and excited about is we have a Boston Shark Night which happens every year and it's literally like a Shark Tank night.

So there's a there there's judges, there are investors, there are prizes and there are a number of startups applying to that uh event and getting shortlisted and then presenting their ideas um in collaboration with Silicon Valley Bank. So that is one thing we are very excited about. I think really education is at the forefront of this and so I'm just excited about um meeting new members and also just cultivating you know this space and I mean Boston is so fantastic and I think really if we were to cross collaborate more and do more events together or even with companies I think there's really nothing that can stop this powerful ecosystem and so from a club perspective, I completely agree that these clubs are kind of supplementing some of the education side um but also through you know this new startup sector or at least from blockchain startup spinning out of either hackathons or workshops or just interest or just the opportunities of it. I think really at least from the startup perspective, we're going to see a lot of whether it's Agentic AI um just bringing different blockchain startups. Um and I really do think students are kind of the forefront of this and I'm just excited to see really where it goes.

Yeah, there's lots of ways for students to get involved. Lots of different opportunities that are more, you know, you have to know people in the in the space to hear about them and figure out what's going on. But there's also public things like Boston Blockchain Association is hosting a workshop that is professional and student where people are going to be working together to explore these ideas and skills that are needed for being in the industry and space and it's uh really exciting. There's so much going on with the crosscampus environment and cubic labs as well hosting things for students and other things going on. And we have one question from the audience here.

Thank you Ryan. Is there from a Boston Blockchain Association perspective, just two quick questions. Um, is there anything else we can do that we haven't talked about on your panel to help support your efforts to do the reach, the community building, the education that you've all been touching on? And second question, when we host these events, we great signups and we're somewhere around a 50%, you know, show up or not show up rate. I I would love some advice on how we improve that number.

Um I I think uh when it comes to your first question um just there are uh some limitations on information providing information to the students if within the campus or just as in a club they do not have enough information. So maybe like if we push push this whole thing a little bit more and educate students about what what we are doing and how why is it great about what we are doing and why you should be a part of it. If if we this kind of uh connectivity we have with students probably that's one of the ways how we can answer your second question get many people into our events and I think there are uh many students who are actually from my college are going to be here in this week Boston blockchain week um they're just figuring out their schedule but they're definitely going to be here and they're excited to meet different people from the industry and probably connect with them learn from them or maybe get some insights from them.

Um just one quick note I think on engagement um maybe just tell students how this industry is evolving and how is it going to change them because a lot of things when especially when I'm trying to hire for the club um students don't really know what blockchain is and they're still trying to go with the traditional finance or like a safer option I would say. Um so yeah just go out there kind of host workshops uh I think that will be a big one just show the importance of the industry um I think that will drive great engagement also we would love to do collaborations uh workshops together too okay well thank you all thank you for today thank you club leaders and I hope to see you all tomorrow and tonight All right, ladies and gentlemen, uh that concludes our programming for today. We'll be back in this tent at 12:00. Uh the evening events are taking place over at 16CC. So that's 16C is where the evening events are happening.

And we'll see you back here tomorrow at noon. Thank you. I'm side.