For my senior project, I am working with Smith + Crown, a blockchain and crypto research startup based in Portland. The company has three main pillars which focus on research, advisory/consulting, and publishing journals. I chose this project because I believe in the philosophy of crypto economic tokens, and I want to learn more about them. I am also fascinated by blockchain technology and cryptography and want to learn about its applications in other domains. My inspiration was my personal curiosity with this topic. I am working with the whole team, but my main person of point is someone in research. I pulled together this project by reaching out to the startup and coming up with a plan. We had a few meetings to discuss my role and any projects/ deliverables I could work on. My three goals for my project are to learn more about blockchain technology, become an expert on one protocol, and also have fun.
This week, I mainly focused on getting onboarded and introduced to the team. I set up my smith and crown email and the other software we use for research. I joined several team meetings this week including daily check-ins, a team breakfast, news briefing, and more. I was able to introduce myself to everyone in the team and also hear a little bit about each member's background and how they ended up here. Another cool thing I did this week was set up 15-minute chats with everyone on the team. These meetings will occur throughout the next three weeks and are just a way for me to learn more about the day-to-day of the people I'm working with. Another goal of mine this week was to investigate several protocols and choose one to deep dive by Monday. Finally, I've been reading the glossary of terms on the smith and crown website because at first I didn't understand a lot of the lingo they use in meetings.
(I can't really post pictures of my work or what I'm reading because I signed an NDA, and everything as of now is remote so I pretty much just work from my computer.)
Megha, it is great that you were able to reach out to a start-up and create a project to fit your interests. I hope you will find it interesting and illuminating, and that this first week has helped you find an area to focus your own project work. I'd love to hear your general impressions about how the members of your team found their way to this startup, and what their workdays look like. Looking forward to reading more! Wendy
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating! I know absolutely nothing about blockchain and crypto, so I'm interested to follow along and learn more as you do!
ReplyDeleteMegha, I am intrigued and look forward to hearing more about this opportunity for you. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting, Megha! Keep up the good work!!
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in learning more. Maybe you can take a picture of yourself at home on your computer? Also, I saw the story this morning about how the video "Charlie Bit My Finger" is being removed from YouTube because it was sold as an NFT. I wonder if your co-workers are talking about this and what they think. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteMegha, this sounds like such a great opportunity for you. I love that you are being proactive in setting up touch bases with teammates and understanding the terms they are using in meetings. Excited to see where this takes you!
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