The Sci-Files – 05/24/2020 – Nick Ivanov – Blockchain Beyond Cryptocurrencies
May 25, 2020
On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Nick Ivanov. Nick is a second-year graduate student, pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Science at Michigan State University (MSU). His major research area lies at the intersection of blockchain and the security of the Internet of Things (IoT). He conducts his research as part of the MSU SEIT (SEcure and Intelligent Things) lab led by Dr. Qiben Yan. They use smart contracts to replace password-based authentication with private-key authentication and achieve the highest levels of security, privacy, and reliability.
The blockchain technology is often associated with cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. However, the unique properties of blockchain are useful not only for cryptocurrencies. Blockchain allows us to elegantly address some security-related challenges of the IoT world. Moreover, blockchain technology allows deploy and run immutable, deterministic, irreversible, and non-deniable programs called smart contracts. In his lab, they show that smart contracts allow them to bring the Internet of Things into the new level of security, reliability, and convenience.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected] You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!
Chelsie is a Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. student at Michigan State University. She studies what happens to the extracellular matrix of cells after they have been stressed. She co-hosts "The Sci-Files" with Daniel Puentes. Together they explore the different topics that MSU students research on "The Sci-Files" at WDBM.
Daniel is a graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, where he does research at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. His research involves measuring the mass of radioactive nuclei, and how it can tell us how protons and neutrons are arranged inside of a nucleus. This research also helps scientists understand how the elements were created in different stellar environments! At WDBM, he and Chelsie Boodoo co-host The Sci-Files.
