Guest Blogger: Dr. Brian Kinard, Professor of Marketing, Cameron School of Business (This post originally appeared on WilmingtonBiz.com on September 4, 2018)

Blockchain, the distributed cryptographic ledger technology that has given rise to the cryptocurrency craze, is now becoming a building block in business school curriculum. Top business schools, such as Duke, MIT, and Harvard, have added a series of courses in blockchain technology to their programs over the past two years and Stanford University recently launched a Center for Blockchain Research. The emergence and rapid expansion of courses designed around blockchain development and cryptography should come as no surprise, as Upwork ranked blockchain as the fastest growing freelance skill in the United States for the second consecutive quarter. These facts may lead you to ask a few basic questions:

New Potato Technologies will be launching their latest product, the Brio Coaster, to the Wilmington community in June. Worked on by a team including four UNCW alumni (Chris Sumner, James Smith, Alan Linz and Amanda Harman) and two Cameron School of Business alumnae (Kellie McLiverty and Corinne Conto, IMBA), this 'smart' coaster is designed to alert you via your phone if someone tampers with your drink while you're away from it.