Description

BlockScience is a complex systems engineering R&D firm founded by Dr. Michael Zargham, specializing in the design and analysis of complex adaptive systems. The organization bridges research and engineering to create safe, ethical, and resilient socio-technical systems, serving for-profit, non-profit, academic, and government organizations globally. Their work combines cutting-edge academic research with computational engineering to address the challenges of designing decentralized networks, blockchain systems, and governance mechanisms.

The firm is best known for developing cadCAD (Complex Adaptive Dynamics Computer-Aided Design), an open-source Python framework released in 2019 that enables researchers and engineers to design, test, and validate complex systems through simulation. This foundational tool has become essential for token engineers and systems designers working with decentralized networks. BlockScience's multidisciplinary expertise spans blockchain systems, token engineering, distributed systems, AI, data science, and operations research.

Beyond technical engineering, BlockScience pioneers approaches to sustainable system design and governance. The organization has developed innovative mechanisms like conviction voting for decentralized decision-making and contributes significantly to the broader token engineering discipline. Their mission centers on helping clients understand complex interdependencies and determine conditions for systemic resilience in emerging decentralized technologies and socio-technical systems.

Details

• Founded: 2018
• Location: Distributed
• Website: https://block.science/
• Focus Areas: Complex systems engineering, token engineering, cadCAD framework, governance design, blockchain systems, agent-based modeling, system dynamics, cryptoeconomic design

Key Programs & Initiatives

• cadCAD Framework: An open-source Python package for encoding Generalized Dynamical Systems (GDS) that enables design, testing, and validation of complex systems through simulation. Supports multi-level abstraction from agent-based modeling to system dynamics, with discrete, continuous, and hybrid dynamic behavior capabilities.
• Token Engineering: BlockScience leads research and practice in token engineering as a professional discipline, addressing sustainable system design challenges for blockchain networks and cryptoeconomic systems. The organization published research on "On the Practice of Token Engineering" identifying critical gaps in methodology.
• Conviction Voting & Governance Design: Pioneered innovative governance mechanisms and computational decision-support systems for decentralized organizations, contributing to the evolution of DAO governance and community-based decision-making processes.

Related Organizations

• Commons Stack: Collaborated with BlockScience to open-source cadCAD in 2019, focused on building commons-based peer production infrastructure
• Token Engineering Commons: Part of the broader token engineering ecosystem and community
• Commons-based DAOs and Protocol Governance: Works with various decentralized organizations implementing complex systems design