## Inspiration

With the excitement of blockchain and the ever growing concerns regarding privacy, we wanted to disrupt one of the largest technology standards yet: Email. Email accounts are mostly centralized and contain highly valuable data, making one small breach, or corrupt act can serious jeopardize millions of people. The solution, lies with the blockchain. Providing encryption and anonymity, with no chance of anyone but you reading your email.

Our technology is named after Soteria, the goddess of safety and salvation, deliverance, and preservation from harm, which we believe perfectly represents our goals and aspirations with this project.

## What it does

First off, is the blockchain and message protocol. Similar to PGP protocol it offers \_ security \_, and \_ anonymity \_, while also **ensuring that messages can never be lost**. On top of that, we built a messenger application loaded with security features, such as our facial recognition access option. The only way to communicate with others is by sharing your 'address' with each other through a convenient QRCode system. This prevents anyone from obtaining a way to contact you without your **full discretion**, goodbye spam/scam email.

## How we built it

First, we built the block chain with a simple Python Flask API interface. The overall protocol is simple and can be built upon by many applications. Next, and all the remained was making an application to take advantage of the block chain. To do so, we built a React-Native mobile messenger app, with quick testing though Expo. The app features key and address generation, which then can be shared through QR codes so we implemented a scan and be scanned flow for engaging in communications, a fully consensual agreement, so that not anyone can message anyone. We then added an extra layer of security by harnessing Microsoft Azures Face API cognitive services with facial recognition. So every time the user opens the app they must scan their face for access, ensuring only the owner can view his messages, if they so desire.

## Challenges we ran into

Our biggest challenge came from the encryption/decryption process that we had to integrate into our mobile application. Since our platform was react native, running testing instances through Expo, we ran into many specific libraries which were not yet supported by the combination of Expo and React. Learning about cryptography and standard practices also played a major role and challenge as total security is hard to find.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are really proud of our blockchain for its simplicity, while taking on a huge challenge. We also really like all the features we managed to pack into our app. None of us had too much React experience but we think we managed to accomplish a lot given the time. We also all came out as good friends still, which is a big plus when we all really like to be right :)

## What we learned

Some of us learned our appreciation for React Native, while some learned the opposite. On top of that we learned so much about security, and cryptography, and furthered our beliefs in the power of decentralization.

## What's next for The Soteria Network

Once we have our main application built we plan to start working on the tokens and distribution. With a bit more work and adoption we will find ourselves in a very possible position to pursue an ICO. This would then enable us to further develop and enhance our protocol and messaging app. We see lots of potential in our creation and believe privacy and consensual communication is an essential factor in our ever increasingly social networking world.
## Inspiration

The counterfeiting industry is anticipated to grow to $2.8 trillion in 2022 costing 5.4 million jobs. These counterfeiting operations push real producers to bankruptcy as cheaper knockoffs with unknown origins flood the market. In order to solve this issue we developed a blockchain powered service with tags that uniquely identify products which cannot be faked or duplicated while also giving transparency. As consumers today not only value the product itself but also the story behind it.

## What it does

Certi-Chain uses a python based blockchain to authenticate any products with a Certi-Chain NFC tag. Each tag will contain a unique ID attached to the blockchain that cannot be faked. Users are able to tap their phones on any product containing a Certi-Chain tag to view the authenticity of a product through the Certi-Chain blockchain. Additionally if the product is authentic users are also able to see where the products materials were sourced and assembled.

## How we built it

Certi-Chain uses a simple python blockchain implementation to store the relevant product data. It uses a proof of work algorithm to add blocks to the blockchain and check if a blockchain is valid. Additionally, since this blockchain is decentralized, nodes (computers that host a blockchain) have to be synced using a consensus algorithm to decide which version of the blockchain from any node should be used.
In order to render web pages, we used Python Flask with our web server running the blockchain to fetch relative information from the blockchain and displayed it to the user in a style that is easy to understand. A web client to input information into the chain was also created using Flask to communicate with the server.

## Challenges we ran into

For all of our group members this project was one of the toughest we had. The first challenge we ran into was that once our idea was decided we quickly realized only one group member had the appropriate hardware to test our product in real life. Additionally, we deliberately chose an idea in which none of us had experience in. This meant we had to spent a portion of time to understand concepts such as blockchain and also using frameworks like flask. Beyond the starting choices we also hit several roadblocks as we were unable to get the blockchain running on the cloud for a significant portion of the project hindering the development. However, in the end we were able to effectively rack our minds on these issues and achieve a product that exceeded our expectations going in. In the end we were all extremely proud of our end result and we all believe that the struggle was definitely worth it in the end.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our largest achievement was that we were able to accomplish all our wishes for this project in the short time span we were given. Not only did we learn flask, some more python, web hosting, NFC interactions, blockchain and more, we were also able to combine these ideas into one cohesive project. Being able to see the blockchain run for the first time after hours of troubleshooting was a magical moment for all of us. As for the smaller wins sprinkled through the day we were able to work with physical NFC tags and create labels that we stuck on just about any product we had. We also came out more confident in the skills we already knew and also developed new skills we gained on the way.

## What we learned

In the development of Certi-Check we learnt so much about blockchains, hashes, encryption, python web frameworks, product design, and also about the counterfeiting industry too. We came into the hackathon with only a rudimentary idea what blockchains even were and throughout the development process we came to understand the nuances of blockchain technology and security. As for web development and hosting using the flask framework to create pages that were populated with python objects was certainly a learning curve for us but it was a learning curve that we overcame. Lastly, we were all able to learn more about each other and also the difficulties and joys of pursuing a project that seemed almost impossible at the start.

## What's next for Certi-Chain

Our team really believes that what we made in the past 36 hours can make a real tangible difference in the world market. We would love to continue developing and pursuing this project so that it can be polished for real world use. This includes us tightening the security on our blockchain, looking into better hosting, and improving the user experience for anyone who would tap on a Certi-Chain tag.
## Inspiration

We’ve noticed that it’s often difficult to form intentional and lasting relationships when life moves so quickly. This issue has only been compounded by the pandemic, as students spend more time than ever isolated from others. As social media is increasingly making the world feel more “digital”, we wanted to provide a means for users to develop tangible and meaningful connections. Last week, I received an email from my residential college inviting students to sign up for a “buddy program” where they would be matched with other students with similar interests to go for walks, to the gym, or for a meal. The program garnered considerable interest, and we were inspired to expand upon the Google Forms setup to a more full-fledged social platform.

## What it does

We built a social network that abstracts away the tediousness of scheduling and reduces the “activation energy” required to reach out to those you want to connect with. Scheduling a meeting with someone on your friend’s feed is only a few taps away. Our scheduling matching algorithm automatically determines the top best times for the meeting based on the inputted availabilities of both parties. Furthermore, forming meaningful connections is a process, we plan to provide data-driven reminders and activity suggestions to keep the ball rolling after an initial meeting. 

## How we built it

We built the app for mobile, using react-native to leverage cross-platform support. We used redux for state management and firebase for user authentication.

## Challenges we ran into

Getting the environment (emulators, dependencies, firebase) configured was tricky because of the many different setup methods. Also, getting the state management with Redux setup was challenging given all the boilerplate needed.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the cohesive and cleanliness of our design. Furthermore, the structure of state management with redux drastically improved maintainability and scalability for data to be passed around the app seamlessly.

## What we learned

We learned how to create an end-to-end app in flutter, wireframe in Figma, and use API’s like firebase authentication and dependencies like React-redux.

## What's next for tiMe

Further flesh out the post-meeting followups for maintaining connections and relationships