Following the first seminar of the "COMP x CAA Academic-Industry Seminar Series" last October, the second seminar themed on “Blockchain” was held virtually on 16 February. More than one hundred students and alumni participated in the session. The seminar series is co-organised by COMP and the Computing Alumni Association (CAA).
Blockchain technology can be extensively applied in many areas, from cryptocurrency, trading, NFT (Non-Fungible Token) to Metaverse. The blockchain system requires the mining process to generate new blocks, sustaining immutable transactions and data streams, yet there is the risk to be attacked. In particular, NFT has rapidly become one of the hot topics globally.
In the seminar, Dr Henry Chan, Associate Professor and Associate Head (Partnership & Collaboration) of COMP, delivered welcome remarks to the audience. Mr Darron Sun, President of CAA and Head of Information Technology of Hong Kong Housing Society, also gave a warm welcome.
Prof. Bin Xiao, COMP Professor, then presented possible security attacks on blockchain systems, including mining attacks. He further talked about power adjusting withholding and Bribery Selfish Mining. On the other hand, Mr Dick Fong, Venture Leader of McKinsey & Company, at the same time an alumnus from COMP, represented CAA to be the second invited speaker to give an overview on NFTs and their latest development by illustrating various examples. He also generously shared his knowledge related to the blockchain with the audiences. There were in-depth discussions and fruitful interaction between the speakers and the participants during the Q&A session.
To encourage lifelong learning, strengthen the connection between COMP and Alumni, as well as foster the possible collaboration between academia and industry, COMP and CAA kicked off the “COMP x CAA Academic-Industry Seminar Series” in the academic year of 2021/22. Various academics and industry professionals will be invited to share their insights and experiences on important computing topics.
