Yubo Zhou (BSc in Business Computing and Data Analytics, Year 3) embarked on a rewarding international exchange at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. During his exchange studies, he connected with fellow tech enthusiasts and formed a cross-national hackathon team of four. Their collaborative efforts led to a remarkable achievement, as their team was recognised among the Top 10 Teams at the prestigious ETHGlobal Hackathon in Brussels, Belgium during 12 - 14 July 2024.
The ETHGlobal stands as one of the largest hackathons globally, attracting over 1,100 hackers from 72 countries this year. Yubo’s team was crowned as one of the Top 10 teams among 355 teams. In addition, their innovative project, titled “Individuum,” also clinched the Best Overall Use Case for TLSNotary and the Best Use of Arbitrum accolodes, securing a total of USD $6,375 in cash prizes, along with USDC $2,000 in digital currency.
The project aims to streamline web-based task delegation, guarantee high-quality task completion and ensure payment transparency. To demonstrate, the team developed “
Individuum”, a digital marketplace for exchanging Twitter visibility, allowing users to place orders with specific instructions, such as desired tweet contents, engagement targets and budgets. The system then seamlessly matches tasks with suitable workers, who receive token rewards upon successful completion and verification. Inbuilt with sophisticated smart contracts, verifiers, and escrow leveraging Arbitrum Stylus, the platform guarantees fair treatment for all stakeholders, establishing an efficient and trustworthy environment for web-based tasks.
Yubo was instrumental in the backend design and smart contract in Rust. Reflecting on this journey, he shared, "Participating in a world-class hackathon and engaging with experts in cryptography has been a truly an awe-inspiring journey. This experience has undoubtedly marked a significant milestone in my life!"
ETHGlobal is a leading force in the Web3 space, closely tied to Ethereum's growth and innovation. It has hosted over 50 hackathons, fostering the creation of more than 6,000 projects with over 70,000 members, solidifying its status as one of the most prestigious hackathon organisers in the blockchain community.
