Future in Blockchain | Imperial College London x Mana Lab

Is the world in danger of massive technological unemployment? Future of Work experts estimate that by 2030, 375 million employees worldwide will have to retrain, and 70 per cent of today's learners will work in professions that have not yet arisen. In a context where skills in blockchain are becoming essential to address the most pressing issues of the century, this series of talks will introduce the underlying concepts behind blockchain technology and discuss how to start a career in this space.

The seminars are open to students and professionals interested in understanding the current state of blockchain technology and networking with key actors in the field.

FAQ:

What level of technical knowledge is required? There is no technical knowledge requirement!

Can someone without a technical background join? Yes, absolutely!

How do I sign up? Free ticket to each online seminar can be booked via this eventbrite page.

Seminar talks:

18 May 5:00-6:00PM BST | Developer introduction |

This webinar will be led by an industry expert who will guide you through the basics of blockchain development. You will learn about the different types of blockchains, how they work, and how to develop applications on them.

Speaker: Sherif Abushadi, Education at NEAR Protocol.

23 May 5:30-6:30 PM BST | Blockchain intro & wallets |

This webinar will provide an introduction to blockchain and how it works. We will also cover the different types of wallets and protocols that are used with blockchain. This is essential information for anyone who wants to get involved with this exciting new technology.

Speaker: Ian Rodgers, Chief Experience Officer at Ledger. Prior to blockchain, Ian was the Chief Digital Officer at LVMH and spent twenty years bringing digital innovations to the mainstream, first with Winamp then Yahoo!, Beats, and Apple. & Lucas Verra, Founder Director at POAP.fr Proof of Attendance Protocol, an infrastructure that allows people to create, issue, and store tokens.

25 May 5:00-6:00PM BST | Exchanges |

In this webinar, you'll learn all about crypto exchanges from a industrial professional. Join this webinar with an expert in the field. You'll learn everything you need to know about how exchanges operate, what to look for when choosing one, and more.

Speakers: Nemil Dalal, Head of Crypto at Coinbase (Y Combinator alum, Stanford MBA and electrical engineer)

01 June 5:00-6:00PM BST | Web3 Startups |

This fireside chat with the leading blockchain VCs will discuss all things web3 startups, raising funds and scaling in the blockchain space related.

Speakers: Zihao Xu, Principal at Octopus Ventures, Oxford alumn, focusing on deals within fintech, and distributed ledger technologies & Lawrence Tili, Partner at Netzero Capital, Imperial College's alumn, focusing on investments in DeFi and Blockchain.

08 June 5:00-6:00PM BST | Career in Blockchain |

In this live webinar, you'll learn everything you need to know about starting a career in blockchain. You'll learn everything you need to know about finding a job in the blockchain industry, from what skills are in demand to where the best opportunities are.

Speakers: Lloyd Wahed, Founder CEO at Mana Search, London-based headhunting company working with fintech and blockchain companies. Host of the London Stock Exchange Searching for Mana Podcast.

11 June Athena Hackathon | The in-person all-women/non-binary hackathon. Come along and over 24 hours you can build awesome projects, meet and learn from some great women and non-binary people in tech, and launch or advance your career in tech.

17-19 June | The Great Exhibition Road Festival is a prestigious annual event that celebrates trailblazing ideas in science and the arts and takes place in South Kensington, one of the most culturally significant areas of London. Installation outside the Science Museum Building.

Sponsor: NEAR Foundation

Partners: Mana Search, Ledger, POAP.fr, Imperial Blockchain Society, Dyson School of Design Engineering

Athena Hackathon partners: Deliveroo, CISCO, VISA, Lloyd’s Bank, NHS Digital

Host: Mimi Nguyen, Doctoral Research at Imperial College London, Faculty of Engineering. Her research on creativity and human-computer interaction has been published by Cambridge University Press, Design Research Society, TIME Magazine, and ACM Association for Computing Machinery.

Links:

manalab.xyz

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/m.nguyen

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/c.mougenot

Speaker List: