[https://hedera.com/blog/consensus-2024-baf-university-summit-recap]

Hedera proudly sponsored the Blockchain Accelerator Foundation (BAF) University Summit at the Consensus conference in Austin, Texas, in May. This event educated over 125 students globally and awarded scholarships to 15 students and 3 professors from 8 Latin American countries.

August 2024 - During Consensus by CoinDesk in May 2024, Hedera sponsored a University Summit organized by the Blockchain Accelerator Foundation (BAF), CoinDesk's university partner at Consensus. Since 2019, BAF has been "at the forefront of bridging academia and industry through impactful events, research, and educational initiatives." We proudly co-hosted the summit and offered opportunities for students to learn about Web3 and engage with top schools and industry leaders.

During last year's Consensus, we sponsored a series of BAF events with other industry leaders. We hosted interactive sessions for students to connect with professionals from Hedera and helped distribute over 200 complimentary conference tickets to students.
Building on the success of our sponsorship in 2023, this year, our sponsorship included a two-hour interactive workshop with BAF students.

During the first hour, Justin Atwell, Developer Advocate at Hashgraph, and Devin Saxon, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Hashgraph, presented a keynote on "Navigating Real-World Solutions with Hedera." They touched on topics such as hashgraph technology, Hedera services, and real-world use cases such as Karate Combat and Archax.

During the second hour, Alyson Liu-Morris, Event Coordinator and University Engagement Lead at Hashgraph, led a hands-on session that gave BAF students a comprehensive overview of Hedera's technology, the services it provides, and its ability to solve real-world problems. Next, the students were divided into teams and asked to create and present their own interpretations of Hedera's real-world use cases.

After 15 minutes of collaboration and discussion, each group presented their interpretations on stage, diving into different real-world use cases using Hedera services. First place was awarded to the "Not Yet" team, who introduced a novel concept centered around resume detection and due diligence utilizing Hedera's technology.

Other groups presented use cases related to supply chain management, logistics, sustainability, health care, and micropayments, highlighting the vast scope of use cases that are made possible by Hedera.

The students' feedback was overwhelmingly positive; many expressed appreciation for the hands-on learning experience as well as the opportunity to network with the team. These collaborative projects showcased the students' creativity and critical thinking. Some of the specific feedback we received from students included:

• "The session by Hedera was outstanding. The pitch contest activity during this session was exceptional, providing education and a great opportunity to practice presentation and teamwork skills."

• "One of the sessions I liked the most was the one by Hedera because I discovered that their use cases connect a lot with the project I want to achieve, and I found a great opportunity in them."

• "I really liked the session by Hedera. They have a clear vision and their approach is very interesting."

• "I feel that the practical part and the reward made the attendees more involved in participation and understanding the project."

In addition to educating over 125 students on Hedera technology and our diverse ecosystems, our sponsorship enabled 15 students and 3 professors from 8 LATAM countries to travel to Austin. Through this engagement, we were able to connect with students who represented various universities and communities in their respective countries, and we will continue to foster further engagement with them post-Consensus.

With the overall goal of bridging academia and industry, we are proud to have given participants valuable educational experiences. The students' enthusiasm and creativity during the BAF workshop inspired and reaffirmed our belief in the importance of hands-on learning and direct engagement with the next generation of leaders in the Web3 space.

Further to this, we recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion in Web3, and in particular the need to grow and expand our presence within the key LATAM market. Our hope is that this opportunity paves the way for us to increase our awareness in Spanish-speaking communities.

Want to get involved or be a part of our university program? Reach out to Alyson at alyson@hashgraph.com.