Registration & Networking:  6:00 p.m.
General Announcements and Introductions: 6:45 p.m.
Dinner: 7:00 p.m.

Presentation and Dessert: 7:30 p.m.
Adjourn: 9:00 p.m.
The cost is $25 for members and students or $35 for non-members.

Speaker Biography: Associate Professor in the Department of Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) at James Madison University

Nicole Radziwill is a data scientist, quality manager, and Associate Professor in the Department of Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) at James Madison University (JMU). She specializes in Quality 4.0: data science and applied machine learning for quality and process improvement, especially in industrial contexts. She is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), and editor of Software Quality Professional. She is one of ASQ's Influential Voices and blogs at http://qualityandinnovation.com. 

Presentation Overview: In December 2017, the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin gained wider recognition as its value (which had slowly grown from tens to thousands of dollars since its inception in 2009) soared to nearly $20,000. From the perspective of quality, this presentation will cut through the hype to explain what cryptocurrencies are and how they are created, and will explore the technical details of the enabling technology -- a data structure called the blockchain. Although cryptocurrencies may be a disruptive technology in and of themselves, blockchain has the potential to be far more revolutionary. The majority of the presentation will demonstrate blockchain technology by introducing common hashing algorithms and how they are used for quality assurance, building a blockchain from scratch, and demonstrating how a blockchain can be used to enhance the provenance, auditability, and integrity of supply chains and other critical records using Hyperledger Composer.

We look forward to seeing you.