Our alumnus, Peter De Ford, just returned from CERN, where he participated in a three-day humanitarian hackathon called The Port (14-16 October). The goal of his team, called Chain Safety Investigators, was to come up with a solution to drug counterfeit and lack of data in the medical supply chain. The team worked online six weeks prior to the hackathon discussing how to arrive at a solution. However, it wasn't until the first day of the hackathon that they agreed to solve the problem using block chain technology and QR codes. During the rest of the event they made a software prototype, researched the topic more, and received helpful feedback from their mentors.

In the next few months, the team will try to come up with a more developed prototype and apply for a grant to test the prototype in the vaccine humanitarian supply chain. We wish them the best of luck! More information about their work can be found at ChainSafe.