Summary

In a recent presentation at Breakpoint 2023, Josef Gattermayer, CEO of Ackee Blockchain, and Aleksandra Yudina, Head of Communications, shared insights into their company's community-focused initiatives, especially the School of Solana. Ackee Blockchain, known for its auditing services on blockchain platforms such as Solana and Ethereum, has made significant strides in giving back to the community through education and open-source projects. With a new Solana-based tool in development and previous runs of the educational program showing promising results, the company continues to contribute to the expansion and strengthening of the blockchain developer community.

Key Points:

School of Solana

The School of Solana is a free online educational initiative aimed at fostering developer skills specifically for the Solana blockchain. This biannual program, supported by the Solana Foundation, is designed for individuals with a basic understanding of blockchain concepts and some programming experience. The course includes an introduction to the Solana blockchain, Rust programming, and the Anchor framework, with the final project requiring students to create a functioning decentralized application (dApp).

Ackee Blockchain's Open Source and Educational Contributions

Ackee Blockchain is an established auditor in the blockchain space and is actively involved in community-driven efforts, such as open-source projects and educational programs. Gattermayer discusses their plans to develop developer tooling for Solana with the recent grant from the Solana Foundation and cites their previous work on Ethereum tooling like the Wake testing framework and a Visual Studio extension.

Ackee Blockchain's Community Engagement and Success Stories

The School of Solana has been quite selective, with over 1,000 applications and only 700 acceptances to date. Out of those who completed the course, the program has produced over 150 competent developers, though only 73 met the certification standards. The speakers highlighted success stories of past students who secured jobs as blockchain developers and auditors post completion.

Facts + Figures

• Ackee Blockchain is a company that audits blockchain platforms, such as Solana and Ethereum.
• The School of Solana is a biannual, free, online course supported by the Solana Foundation.
• The course is not designed for total beginners but caters to those with some programming experience and basic blockchain knowledge.
• Upon completion of entry tasks, participants receive an NFT of acceptance and join a dedicated Discord community.
• Recorded lessons are leveraged alongside GitHub classrooms for submitting tasks.
• Successful graduates receive an NFT of completion, and the course can be added to LinkedIn.
• Over three runs of the course, 700 out of 1,000 applicants were accepted.
• To date, 150 developers have been trained, with 73 meeting the certification standards.
• Ackee Blockchain recently received a grant to develop open-source tooling for Solana.
• They have also created Ethereum-based developer tools, including the Wake testing framework.
• Notable alumni projects include blockchain-based certification systems and a multi-sig vault application.

Top quotes

• "We are auditors. We are auditing Solana and Ethereum. But besides the auditing, we always like to return something back to the community."
• "We are working on the first open source for Solana. We just got a grant from Solana Foundation to build this tool."
• "The School of Solana is 100% online and free and it's backed by Solana Foundation."
• "You need to understand some basic concepts like what is blockchain."
• "We don't accept anyone... we have some standards, we have some formal requirements."

Questions Answered

What is the School of Solana?

The School of Solana is a free, biannual, online educational program supported by the Solana Foundation aimed at teaching developers about the Solana blockchain, Rust programming, and the Anchor framework. Students apply their knowledge by creating a working decentralized application as their final project.

Who can apply for the School of Solana?

The program is suitable for individuals who have basic knowledge of blockchain technology and some prior programming experience. It's not aimed at complete beginners but rather at those looking to transition their programming skills from languages like Python or JavaScript to Solana.

What kind of support does Ackee Blockchain provide to developers?

Ackee Blockchain supports developers through its auditing services, educational programs like the School of Solana, and the development of open-source tools with the help of grants from blockchain foundations, such as the Solana Foundation.

What are the success stories from School of Solana?

Many past students have successfully transitioned into blockchain-related jobs after completing the program. For instance, one highlighted alumnus named Andre joined Ackee Blockchain as a Solana Auditor, while others secured positions as developers in various Solana-based projects.

When is the next run of the School of Solana?

As of the speaking date, there was no announced schedule for the next run of the School of Solana. Potential applicants are encouraged to follow Ackee Blockchain on Twitter and keep an eye on announcements from the Solana Foundation for updates on new cohorts.