Blockchain Business Lab Receives First Major Donation
Stony Brook University’s very own Blockchain Business Lab in the College of Business received a 2-year donation from data technology company GXChain. GXChain is the first corporate donor of the blockchain lab, a company that is leading the way in the global data economy by helping developers build blockchain applications that are a part of the growing blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.
The Blockchain Business Lab was created in 2018 for research into blockchain business applications amidst the growing blockchain and crypto industry, and recruits student volunteers to assist in conducting academic and industry research projects. Professor Danling Jiang, the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the College of Business, is a co-director of the lab with Professor Stoyan Stoyanov and works with the student volunteers to help them develop research mindsets regarding this emerging technology.
“We want these students to get exposure to this technology and industry,” she said, “through networking with people in the space either doing research relevant to businesses in this space, and encourage our students to create products or applications or a business of their own.”
Joe Barry, Director of Development for the College of Business receives donation from
Alex Ding, SBU Alumnus and Director of International Relations at GXChain
Blockchain is a budding technology that is predicted to revolutionize how business is done in the modern economy and could be applied far beyond cryptocurrency uses. The Blockchain Business Lab is aiding students in getting ahead on learning about this technology, applying it to other aspects of business such as financing and trading through research projects that collaborate with professors and industry partners such as BitMart Lab. Students volunteer in these projects to assist with research such as collecting data, assessing the risk and return of investing in the space, and understanding relevant financial regulations, to study the business aspect of this growing industry and how it could affect the modern economy in the near future.
Much of this donation given by GXChain will be funding research excellence awards to students to properly recognize their hard work and successful findings in the lab as unpaid volunteers. Several students have gone on to start their own companies using the tools they learned, and have even returned to the lab as “industry mentors” to lead research projects for other students. Students are encouraged to learn and to create and to start their business or ideas they can take with them.
“Through this exposure and teamwork they can build a network with industry practitioners, researchers and among themselves, and potentially pursue future careers in this emerging space,” Professor Jiang added. “Our mission is to encourage students to learn, to create, and to start their business or ideas they can take with them.”
-Paige Clarke '20
