Morgan State University’s National FinTech Center has been awarded a 3-year, $1,050,000 grant from Ripple. Additionally, Hampton University hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) Clean Energy Technology (CET) Workforce Accelerator for Fusion Conference.

The National FinTech Center at Morgan State University has been awarded a 3-year, $1,050,000 grant from Ripple, a leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions.

This grant will help the Center to advance blockchain and financial technology (FinTech) research, education, and programming.

This funding builds upon Ripple’s initial investment in Morgan’s FinTech Center, which was first announced in 2019.

The partnership between Morgan and Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) has played a crucial role in furthering the application and understanding of blockchain, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, and other FinTech areas within the university and the extended network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) collaborating with the Center.

In another development, Hampton University recently hosted the National Science Foundation (NSF) Clean Energy Technology (CET) Workforce Accelerator for Fusion Conference.

The conference focused on developing a diverse workforce to advance fusion energy, a revolutionary technology expected to transform the energy grid in the coming decades.

Dr. Calvin Lowe, a physics professor at Hampton University, Dr. Carlos Paz-Soldan, associate professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia University, and Dr. Troy Carter, a physics professor at UCLA, organized the conference.

The conference aimed to share global best practices and lessons and to develop a workforce capable of realizing fusion energy’s potential to deliver dispatchable, carbon-free power.

Fusion energy, currently in the development stage with prototype devices and ongoing system studies, promises to offer large-scale, carbon-free power and has the potential to power transportation systems.

The conference’s goal was to identify the specific needs of the fusion energy sector and create training and support programs to build this workforce, ultimately producing actionable proposals for funding agencies to support fusion energy’s future.

The NSF CET Workforce Accelerator for Fusion Conference is a significant step toward a sustainable future powered by fusion energy, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing to pave the way for a diverse and capable workforce to drive the growth of fusion energy technology.

🚀 Exciting news! Morgan State University just received a $1.05M grant from #Ripple to supercharge its National FinTech Center. This partnership will propel cutting-edge research in blockchain, AI, and machine learning, placing MSU at the forefront of the fintech revolution.… pic.twitter.com/nbqlDVkkZd

— Collin Brown (@CollinBrownXRP) May 15, 2024

Exciting news in the #FusionEnergy space!

Join us at the Workforce Accelerator for Fusion Energy Development May 29-30 in Hampton, VA. We’re convening experts to explore opportunities for developing new educational and research-based training programs aimed at expanding the… pic.twitter.com/XPmty4NMZK

— Commonwealth Fusion Systems (@CFS_energy) February 5, 2024