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talhah patelia

First place in four challenges, Deep Dive into Blockchain

Won the final project and three challenges at the University of Zurich Blockchain Center's summer school in Stellenbosch, on an industry scholarship.

The Pacy team with their first-place medals for the best group project. Talhah Patelia is second from the right.

The Pacy team with their first-place medals for the best group project. Talhah Patelia is second from the right.

Deep Dive into Blockchain (DDiB) is a summer school run by the University of Zurich Blockchain Center. Its 7th edition ran from 5 to 24 July 2026 at Stellenbosch University. I took part on an industry scholarship that covered the CHF 3,500 fee.

I placed first in four parts of the programme:

  • the final project, which won the best group project medal;
  • the Proof-of-Work mining challenge;
  • the Cardano staking challenge;
  • the DAO governance and voting challenge.

The final project

With four teammates I built Pacy, a Cardano-based digital prescription system. A pharmacy can check that a prescription is genuine, a prescription cannot be used again once it has been dispensed, and the medical data is encrypted and kept off the blockchain. The Cardano Academy supported the project.

  • Receiving a winner's badge for the DAO governance (voting) challenge.

    Receiving a winner's badge for the DAO governance (voting) challenge.

  • The Proof-of-Work mining challenge.

    The Proof-of-Work mining challenge.

  • The Cardano staking challenge.

    The Cardano staking challenge.

  • Presenting the final project, Pacy.

    Presenting the final project, Pacy.

  • With the University of Zurich confirmation for the summer school, 5 to 24 July 2026.

    With the University of Zurich confirmation for the summer school, 5 to 24 July 2026.

Keep reading

  • Competed

    Award

    ISC25 Student Cluster Competition

    Took part online, with a Wits team, in the ISC25 Student Cluster Competition, which is held in Hamburg.

    ISC High Performance

  • Full tuition

    Award

    Special Dean's Award

    Full tuition for a Master's at Wits, awarded to members of the Wits HPC team for national and international student supercomputing results.

    University of the Witwatersrand

  • 2nd overall

    Award

    2nd overall, CHPC National Student Cluster Competition

    Wits A placed second of ten teams, won the MATLAB Coding Challenge and took the highest LINPACK result.

    Centre for High Performance Computing