Global blockchain specialist firm ConsenSys has announced the launch of the first cohort of its ConsenSys Academy Developer Program on August 1st, 2017. The ConsenSys Academy Developer Program is an blockchain training program designed to provide more blockchain developers for the growing industry. The program begins with Phase1 - an immersive online module that will start with a welcome video from Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys.
High performing students will be invited to Phase2 of the program which will be taking place in Dubai. Since the announcement of the Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020 by the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) and the Smart Dubai Office (SDO) in October, 2016, Dubai has attracted leading experts and talent from around the globe to help Dubai fulfil its goal of becoming the world’s first blockchain-powered government. This includes ConsenSys, whose Dubai-based regional headquarters has grown into it’s second-largest operation globally behind its Brooklyn HQ.
The developer program received over 1,300 applicants from a pool of 95 countries worldwide during its two-month application window. Contenders’ resumes included a wide range of expertise, from data scientists and PhD students to CEOs. The selection process involved a coding test, as well as consideration of applicants’ backgrounds and experience through their resumes and githubs. The process narrowed down the pool of candidates to a class of enrolees with an acceptance rate of around 10%. Those who were unable to make the application deadline or were not selected for this first cohort will be able to find information about future cohorts directly on the ConsenSys Academy website.
In addition to end to end Ethereum coursework, students will be exposed to several particular topics covered during the program, such as Low-level Lisp-like Language (LLL). LLL is seeing a resurgence in popularity, due to its low-level access to the Ethereum Virtual Machine, and its demonstrated efficiency and much smaller compiled binary size, which can result in significantly reduced cost on execution and deployment. The ConsenSys Academy will also familiarize students with LLL syntax and describe what it’s like to write a contract in the language. The course content for LLL has been prepared by Daniel Ellison, the LLL Archaeologist - now part of the ConsenSys Team.
