Carnegie Mellon University
overall introduction
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1900, the university is a merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research.
description of blockchain / cryptocurrency courses & initiatives
Carnegie Mellon University offers several courses that discuss blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Notably, Carnegie Mellon offers the course Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and Applications - Spring, 12 units
‘‘This course will first provide an overview of the technological mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and distributed consensus and distributed ledgers (blockchains), introducing along the way the necessary cryptographic tools. It will then focus on more advanced blockchain applications, such as smart contracts, that is, contracts written as code. Finally, the course will also introduce some of the legal and policy questions surrounding cryptocurrencies.’’
‘’By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Reason about cryptocurrencies, both from a technological perspective and from a legal and regulatory perspective.
Understand the most important recent developments in cryptocurrencies and blockchains, and will be able to describe them and determine whether these technologies are applicable to certain industry sectors.’’
Additionally, the course Developing Blockchain Use Cases - Spring, 6 units is offered.
This course is designed for students to propose and, potentially, develop applications or use cases for a campus blockchain.
‘‘By the end of this course, students will be able to...
...describe the intrinsic value of leading cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum
...explain the role cryptography plays in securing blockchain-based cryptocurrencies
...understand and program a smart contract on the Ethereum test network
...build a Decentralized Application running on a decentralized peer-to-peer network
...understand risks to the usefulness of different blockchains
...propose and evaluate use cases for a new blockchain and/or cryptocurrency.’’