UConn is among the first academic institutions to offer students experiential learning using the decentralized artificial intelligence network known as Bittensor<\/a>. The University has partnered on the project with Yuma<\/a>, a DCG company based in Stamford that’s focused on decentralized AI, and a core partner in the Bittensor network.<\/p>\n The project, called \u201cBittBridge,\u2019\u2019 involves graduate students from a variety of fields, ranging from financial technology to sports analytics.<\/p>\n \u201cThe launch of BittBridge underscores UConn\u2019s role as an academic pioneer, providing students with cutting-edge experiences in decentralized AI and blockchain technology,\u2019\u2019 says School of Business Interim Dean Greg Reilly. \u201cIn a rapidly evolving technological field, the best way to prepare our students is to immerse them in real-world innovation.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of both Yuma and DCG, is also excited to welcome new innovators. Yuma, whose mission is to create positive economic and societal change by connecting transformative ideas with AI, will provide onboarding, technical mentorship, and operational support to the BittBridge team.<\/p>\n \u201cThe transformative power of AI shouldn\u2019t be limited to a few tech giants or well-funded companies with massive compute access,\u2019\u2019 Silbert says. \u201cOur partnership with UConn represents a significant step in building pathways so the next wave of talent\u2014including students and builders across disciplines\u2014can enter decentralized AI and help shape the outcomes of this extraordinary technology.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Evan Malanga \u201910 (BUS), chief revenue officer at Yuma, also played a key role in shaping the BittBridge program, bringing the partnership full circle.<\/p>\n Partnership is Extraordinary<\/strong><\/p>\n The Yuma team has been supportive and flexible and allows students to set their own goals, says Tuzov, who is working toward a degree in business analytics and project management.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it is a big opportunity not only technically but a great hands-on experience with a real-world project,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cWe\u2019re working with specialists on the cutting edge. I\u2019m really honored to be working with this amazing team of students and professionals, who are dedicated to solving business problems.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Professor Dave Wanik, who is leading the student team, says he is enthusiastic about the collaboration and the potential outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cMy five students and I are thrilled to collaborate with Yuma and engage with both the technology and the broader deAI community,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cThis partnership offers a unique opportunity for students to work alongside experienced AI and machine learning engineers, sharpen their software development skills, and contribute to real-world innovation. I can\u2019t wait to see what the students will do with this incredible opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stamford-based Yuma experts to mentor students as they strive to solve business challenges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":231510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1731,2460,2192,2459,2649,1862,1875,2235,174],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-231420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-entrepreneurship","category-faculty","category-fairfield-county","category-graduate-students","category-blue-pride","category-busn","category-grad-school","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-stamford"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 15:08:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231420"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231974,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231420\/revisions\/231974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/231510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231420"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=231420"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=231420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"UConn](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yuma-2-scaled.jpg\")