Please describe your proposed solution.

Between the types of proposals expected in this challenge this is one of the two directives:

> Activities to foster student Catalyst proposers and blockchain engineers

> → Increasing the number of student Catalyst proposers and blockchain engineers will lead to the development of the Cardano ecosystem in the future. Specific examples for educating them include holding seminars, creating and translating content, forming a community hub, and so on. Let's make use of your experience and position to promote student onboarding.

>

We feel that this proposal perfectly matches the description.

Jayden is a CS student and Cardano enthusiast with an existing grasp of the eUTxO model and familiarity with tools for developing on Cardano (Lucid, Aiken, etc…).

At Harmonic Laboratories he will further his experience with Cardano via hands-on mentoring, while contributing to the ecosystem through the development of open source software and infrastructure.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Alongside supporting the onboarding of a new developer to the Cardano community, this proposal will ensure that a tangible open source output is produced which actively enhances the developer and user experience on Cardano.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Jayden's progression as a Cardano developer can be measured by his output, which will be public for the community to judge. This will show Jayden's development throughout the course of the internship, as well as the value of his input in the projects he will be working on at Harmonic Labs.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

All the work and projects completed by Jayden will be fully open-source. Therefore, anybody can view the outputs and results on GitHub.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Harmonic Labs is a leading Cardano start-up with numerous ambitious projects. As such, they can be expected to hold Jayden to a high standard. As for Jayden himself, he has experience working in open source cryptocurrency projects in the past (i.e. a big-data and live-streamed analytics platform for on-chain and off-chain data), and his academic results demonstrate his natural talent for computer science and an ability to learn quickly. Given that all work is public, the cardano community (as well as Harmonic Labs) can hold Jayden accountable.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

While the primary goal is to onboard Jayden into the Cardano ecosystem in an efficient and effective manner, we also aim to benefit the Cardano community directly via the development of open source software. Hence, at the end of the 6 months, we aim for Jayden to have made a significant contribution to one (or more) of Harmonic Labs' open source projects. We can validate the feasibility of this goal by allowing Jayden to try out multiple roles and projects within Harmonic Labs to determine where he can best fit in and contribute.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

• Onboarding and introduction into developing on Cardano - 1 Month
• Working with the team at Harmonic Labs in a few areas to determine where would be the best fit, while gaining hands-on experience with Cardano development - 2 Months
• Working on a specific project to completion - 3-4 Months

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

• The outcome is for Jayden to have a strong foundational and theoretical understanding of the principles of Cardano, including the design process behind decentralised applications built on the platform
• The outcome is for Jayden to gain hands-on experience, working with seasoned developers to develop open source tools and technology for the Cardano ecosystem. At this stage, he should still focus on learning, but in more practical settings
• The deliverable would be a substantial contribution to one of Harmonic Labs' open source projects

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Funds will be released biweekly over 6 months. The extra month is allotted to allow for inevitable situations such as exams which may require breaks from development. Funding is wholly contingent on satisfactory contributions to OSS in the specified technology.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

1. Jay taylor - proposer & student (University of Sydney, [email protected])
2. Michele - Coproposer & Project leader
3. Micah - Coroposer & Vouch

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The dispersal of funds amounts to ₳1645 per week (24 weeks in total). We believe this is fair compensation for the work that Jayden will be conducting in producing quality open source software to support the Cardano ecosystem.