Past Event: Block by Block: The Basics & Beyond of Blockchain

Looking to the Future of Blockchain: A Moderated Roundtable Discussion

3:05 pm – 4:05 pm, Moderated by Provost Mary Clark

In a moderate roundtable discussion led by Provost Mary Clark, panelists will dig deeper into the implications for Blockchain as a transactional tool of the future and the impact it can have on peoples’ lives. They will discuss how Blockchain can be connected to DU’s public good mission while also understanding the impact that Blockchain can have on people and the planet.

Featuring:

• Learn more about the panelists

  Panelists listed alphabetically:

  

  Jack Buffington
  Program Director of Supply Chain Management, University of Denver
  Director of Supply Chain and Sustainability, First Key Consulting

  Jack Buffington is the Program Director/Professor for the Supply Chain Management program at the University of Denver, and the Director of the Supply Chain and Sustainability practices for First Key Consulting, a global consulting firm in the brewing industry.  Prior, Jack held various leadership roles in manufacturing and supply chain for MolsonCoors.  Buffington received a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from Lulea University of Technology in Lulea, Sweden, and a Post-Doc at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.  Jack has published over twenty peer-reviewed journal articles and six non-fiction business books, winning various awards.  His next book releases are “Reinventing Supply Chain: A 21st Century Covenant for America” (Georgetown University Press, February 2023), and “21st Century Sustainability: Economic Growth and a Green Planet by 2050” (Rowman & Littlefield, April, 2024).

  

  Christopher Coleman
  Professor, Emergent Digital Practices; Director of the Clinic for Open Source Arts (COSA)
  College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Denver

  Chris Coleman was born in West Virginia and he received his MFA from SUNY Buffalo in New York. His work includes sculptures, videos, creative coding and interactive installations. Coleman has had his work in exhibitions and festivals in more than 25 countries including Brazil, Argentina, Singapore, Finland, the U.A.E., Italy, Germany, France, China, the UK, Latvia, and across North America. He currently resides in Denver, CO and is a Professor of Emergent Digital Practices and the Director of the Clinic for Open Source Arts at the University of Denver.

  https://objkt.com/
  https://feralfile.com/
  https://www.fxhash.xyz/

  

  Stephen Haag
  Professor of the Practice, Dept. of Business Information & Analytics
  Daniels College of Business, University of Denver

  Stephen Haag is the author or co-author of 49 books, including the 2022 releases of The Fourth Industrial Revolution 2022: What Every College and High School Student Needs to Know About the Future, and The Periodic Table of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Stephen has also appeared in Wired Magazine, Good Housekeeping, and Parent Magazine.

  

  Amin Khodaei
  Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
  Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Denver

  Dr. Amin Khodaei is a professor and past chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Denver. His research is focused on the climate crisis, the grid of the future, and advanced technologies to modernize the grid, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and quantum computing. He has authored/co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed technical papers, has advised over 40 graduate students and postdoc associates, and has managed over $4 million in grant funding over the past nine years at the University of Denver.

  www.klab.energy

Applying Blockchain: Use Case Breakout Discussions

4:20 pm – 5:00 pm

Join us for the final section of the symposium to gain a more in-depth understanding of how Blockchain can be used in a variety of different fields, disciplines, and industries! From supply chain to the arts to the energy sector, and more, learn about how Blockchain be utilized. Read more about the Use Case Breakout session options below!

• Art on the Blockchain presented by Christopher Coleman, Professor, Emergent Digital Practices; Director of the Clinic for Open Source Arts (COSA), CAHSS
   
• Blockchain in the Future of Supply Chains presented by Jack Buffington, Program Director of Supply Chain Management, DCB; Director of Supply Chain and Sustainability, First Key Consulting
   
• Managing Group Projects for Students with Blockchain presented by Stephen Haag, Professor of the Practice, Dept. of Business Information & Analytics, DCB
   
• Peer-to-Peer Solar Energy Trading on Blockchains presented by Amin Khodaei, Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, RSECS
   
• Using Blockchain to Update and Improve the World of Law through Blockchain based Smart Contracts presented by Jebb Dykstra, Instructor, Information and Communications Technology, UCOLL

• Learn more about the Use Case sessions & discussion leaders

  Art on the Blockchain

  Participants ill look at finding, buying, and selling artworks on the Blockchain as well as the different types of work you might find there. The focus will be on the Ethereum and Tezos chains.

  Featuring:

  

  Christopher Coleman
  Professor, Emergent Digital Practices; Director of the Clinic for Open Source Arts (COSA)
  College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Denver

  Chris Coleman was born in West Virginia and he received his MFA from SUNY Buffalo in New York. His work includes sculptures, videos, creative coding and interactive installations. Coleman has had his work in exhibitions and festivals in more than 25 countries including Brazil, Argentina, Singapore, Finland, the U.A.E., Italy, Germany, France, China, the UK, Latvia, and across North America. He currently resides in Denver, CO and is a Professor of Emergent Digital Practices and the Director of the Clinic for Open Source Arts at the University of Denver.

  https://objkt.com/
  https://feralfile.com/
  https://www.fxhash.xyz/

  Blockchain in the Future of Supply Chains

  Today’s supply chains are highly concentrated, long-tailed global operations.  For businesses to achieve a more balanced model of the future that includes economic growth, fairness, and sustainability, blockchain is a potential game changing technology to make it happen.

  Featuring:

  

  Jack Buffington
  Program Director of Supply Chain Management, University of Denver
  Director of Supply Chain and Sustainability, First Key Consulting

  Jack Buffington is the Program Director/Professor for the Supply Chain Management program at the University of Denver, and the Director of the Supply Chain and Sustainability practices for First Key Consulting, a global consulting firm in the brewing industry.  Prior, Jack held various leadership roles in manufacturing and supply chain for MolsonCoors.  Buffington received a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from Lulea University of Technology in Lulea, Sweden, and a Post-Doc at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.  Jack has published over twenty peer-reviewed journal articles and six non-fiction business books, winning various awards.  His next book releases are “Reinventing Supply Chain: A 21st Century Covenant for America” (Georgetown University Press, February 2023), and “21st Century Sustainability: Economic Growth and a Green Planet by 2050” (Rowman & Littlefield, April, 2024).

  Managing Group Projects for Students with Blockchain

  From the beginning with project requirements given by the instructor all the way through to post-project team member evaluations, Blockchain can be an effective tool for managing group projects for students. Learn more about how Blockchain can be used in the classroom. This session will include examples of how faculty members can incorporate, store, and organize team communications as well as shared files with this technology.

  Featuring:

  

  Stephen Haag
  Professor of the Practice, Dept. of Business Information & Analytics
  Daniels College of Business, University of Denver

  Stephen Haag is the author or co-author of 49 books, including the 2022 releases of The Fourth Industrial Revolution 2022: What Every College and High School Student Needs to Know About the Future, and The Periodic Table of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Stephen has also appeared in Wired Magazine, Good Housekeeping, and Parent Magazine.

  Peer-to-Peer Solar Energy Trading on Blockchains

  The growing share of distributed, renewable resources in the energy mix to combat climate change calls for a significant efficiency improvement through market-based solutions such as peer-to-peer (P2P) energy systems. This paradigm shift requires an energy market that supports its functions through well-designed market rules and transaction infrastructure. Blockchain technology can facilitate the implementation of both market rules and transaction infrastructure for newly emerging P2P energy markets.

  Featuring:

  

  Amin Khodaei
  Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
  Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Denver

  Dr. Amin Khodaei is a professor and past chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Denver. His research is focused on the climate crisis, the grid of the future, and advanced technologies to modernize the grid, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and quantum computing. He has authored/co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed technical papers, has advised over 40 graduate students and postdoc associates, and has managed over $4 million in grant funding over the past nine years at the University of Denver.

  www.klab.energy

  Using Blockchain to Update and Improve the World of Law through Blockchain based Smart Contracts

  Smart contracts are self-executing lines of code with the terms of an agreement between buyer and seller automatically verified and executed via a computer network. Smart contracts deployed to blockchains render transactions traceable, transparent, and irreversible. Smart contracts permit trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out among disparate, anonymous parties without the need for a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism. While blockchain technology has come to be thought of primarily as the foundation for bitcoin, it has evolved far beyond underpinning the virtual currency.

  Featuring:

  

  Jebb Dykstra
  Instructor, Information and Communications Technology
  University College, University of Denver

  Jebb Dykstra (J.D., University of the Pacific) runs the boutique law firm of Technology Sector Law Corporation, which provides legal expertise to technology, software, and internet companies, including handling of complex intellectual property, licensing, and financing transactions. Jebb has also been a part of four VC-backed companies. While founding and running Meetrix, they won the first ever Beacon Award from IBM for Best Cloud Computing Innovation. Jebb’s patent describes the novel way of distributing and licensing software using a cloud infrastructure to any endpoint, including, people, robots, drones and sensors.

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