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Artificial intelligence is the art of designing semi-autonomous computer systems, while machine learning is the art of designing systems that can reach their conclusions, and, in some cases, extrapolate without further input.
MIT’s Sloan School of Management and GetSmarter
MIT Sloan’s Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy online program is the result of a collaboration between MIT’s Sloan School of Management and GetSmarter. Designed and taught by faculty and experts from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the course helps business leaders assess and capitalize upon the value of automation through the development of transformation roadmaps and personalized organizational strategies.
The course is divided into six parts: an introduction to artificial intelligence; machine learning in business; natural language processing in business; robotics in business; artificial intelligence in business and society; and the future of artificial intelligence.
Built in collaboration with AWS (Amazon Web Services), a cloud computing company, Udacity offers a nano degree in machine learning engineering that is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to deploy and build machine learning models using Amazon SageMaker. The program covers deep learning fluency, essential machine learning framework fundamentals, and neural network basics. Students in this course will learn through practical courses, such as developing their first ML workflow and exploring deep learning topics with computer vision and NLP.
Under the guidance of industry professionals like Matt Maybeno, graduates will gain hands-on experience in AWS machine learning, preparing them to excel as AWS machine learning engineers.
Students propose and complete a capstone project of their own by the term’s end. Topics covered include an introduction to machine learning; developing your first ML workflow; deep learning topics with computer vision and NLP; operationalizing machine learning on SageMaker; and a capstone.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger system that utilizes cryptography to securely store and transfer data, with major applications in cryptocurrency, financial technology (fintech), and healthcare.
University of Oxford’s Saïd School of Business
The Blockchain Strategy Programme is a six-week short course offered by the University of Oxford’s Saïd School of Business. Participants gain a fundamental understanding of blockchain and its implications and applications. On successful completion, students will walk away with a solid understanding of how blockchain works, its impact on financial structures and economies, how tokens and cryptocurrencies are created, and where blockchain can be employed to maximize value creation. They will also be able to integrate blockchain applications into their business.
The curriculum, primarily designed for executives and business leaders, focuses on short—and long-term strategies related to blockchain innovation and design. However, it can also provide an onramp for engineers looking to branch out, transition, or gain future-fit skills. The program culminates in a certificate from the university’s business school.
The Harvard VPAL FinTech online short course, hosted by Harvard’s VPAL and GetSmarter, gives students a strategic framework to critically address the future of the financial services industry, and the skills to address challenges and propose solutions within it.
The course is convened by expert Harvard faculty and divided into modules that cover reshaping the banking and payments industry, raising money with fintech, harnessing data with artificial intelligence and machine learning, demystifying blockchain, cryptocurrencies and CBDCs, and forging the future of fintech.
An optional final conference allows students to share capstone project presentations.
University of Oxford’s Saïd School of Business
The Oxford Fintech Programme is a seven-week short course designed to equip students with the capability to recognize opportunities for disruption in financial services, as well as launch their fintech ventures.
The course is convened and instructed by Oxford faculty and industry experts, and divided into six modules: an introduction to disruptive change and opportunities in fintech and financial innovation; views from policymakers and regulators; views from incumbents; views from entrepreneurs garnering insights into startup successes and their challenges; exploration of fintech from an entrepreneur’s view; and views from investors and academia.
The program culminates in a certificate from the university’s business school.
Related to project engineering, business systems analysis focuses on automating business processes and optimizing tools, people, and culture to fulfill a larger corporate strategy.
Coursera – University of Minnesota
Coursera, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, offers a 100% online five-week course in analysis for business systems, part of its larger information systems specialization.
Students learn about the standard systems development models, particularly how to create specific deliverables that business systems analysts prepare during the Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC). It’s recommended that students have some IT and project management background before beginning the course.
The curriculum includes an introduction to business systems; analysis phase documentation; analysis phase diagrams; a design phase overview; and a course project.
Cloud computing uses an internet-hosted network of remote servers to store and process data, rather than housing that data on a personal device.
edX – The University of Maryland University College
In cooperation with the University of Maryland Global Campus, edX offers a course on designing, configuring, and managing cloud computing infrastructure. The eight-week class focuses on components of the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) cloud service model and its most popular deployment architectures. Two final projects involve successfully migrating a website to an IaaS environment on Amazon Web Services.
The class is part of a four-course MicroMasters© program, covering cloud computing for enterprises, cloud computing infrastructure, cloud computing management, and cloud computing security. Successful program completion allows for transferring 12 credits towards a master’s degree in cloud computing architecture at UMUC.
Cybersecurity protects data from theft, damage, or espionage, and it’s increasingly being included as a consideration in risk management calculations.
The Harvard VPAL’s cybersecurity: managing risk in the information age online short course, hosted through a collaboration between Harvard’s VPAL and GetSmarter, is designed for business leaders and security analysts who want to sharpen their understanding of cybersecurity risk management.
The eight-week program is divided into eight sections: cybersecurity risk is a business risk; identifying cyber threats; identifying important business systems and assets; the crucial role of leadership in managing cyber risk; understanding your technology; cyber risk and the law; incident response and accountability; and designing and implementing a mitigation strategy.
The course convener, Eric Rosenbach, is the co-director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. The program requires eight to 11 hours of study per week.
edX – Rochester Institute of Technology
In collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology, edX has an eight-week course on cybersecurity risk management, part of their MicroMasters program in cybersecurity. Each week covers a different topic: the evolution of information security; the risk management process, framework, and life cycle; quantitative versus qualitative risk assessments; defining information security metrics; analysis techniques; automating metrics calculations and tools; and industry case studies (two weeks).
The course is free but can be upgraded (i.e., adding graded assignments, unlimited access, and a certificate upon completion). Students must have already completed RIT and edX’s cybersecurity fundamentals course, which teaches network and system administration fundamentals, information assurance fundamentals, and basic cryptography concepts.
Digital marketing uses big data and social analytics to create marketing narratives with measurable results.
MIT Sloan School of Management and GetSmarter
MIT Sloan School of Management’s Digital Marketing Analytics online short course, offered through a collaboration between MIT and GetSmarter, provides students with an overview of the best practices and approaches in digital marketing analysis and measurements and offers an understanding of how these tools can be integrated for informing strategic direction.
The course is divided into six modules: understanding the digital marketing channel mix; implementing integrated digital marketing; understanding predictive analytics and predictive marketing; interpreting data for predictive modeling; optimizing return on investment (ROI); and the future of integrated digital marketing: video, mobile, and AI. The six-week course requires six to eight hours of study per week.
edX – Wharton School
The top-ranked Wharton School, in collaboration with edX, is offering a six-week course in marketing analytics: data tools, and techniques. Students learn regression analysis, conjoint analysis, social media analytics, and new techniques in market research.
Students in this program will learn about assessing critical managerial problems, developing relevant hypotheses, analyzing data, and drawing inferences for creating convincing narratives that yield actionable results.
The course is part of a four-course professional certificate program in digital marketing. Other classes in the program include fundamentals of digital marketing, online advertising & social media, and digital customer analytics; managing the value of customer relationships; and selling ideas. Each course is taught by the Wharton faculty.
Engineering management applies skills in business leadership, organizational strategy, project management, and staff administration to engineering.
GetSmarter – MIT’s Sloan School of Management
MIT’s Sloan School of Management offers a course called Business Process Design for Strategic Management, hosted by GetSmarter. Ideal for managers and leaders who aim toward innovation and improvement, the program introduces students to ‘Dynamic Work Design,’ a process improvement framework for developing an effective strategy that solves organizational issues.
The course is divided into six modules: an introduction to dynamic work design; the four principles of dynamic work design; the problem statement; structured problem solving; designing work for people; and visual management.
The MIT Sloan faculty designed the curriculum: Nelson Repenning (distinguished professor of system dynamics and organization studies) and Donald Kieffer (senior lecturer in operations management). The six-week program takes approximately five to seven hours of study per week.
GetSmarter – Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies
In collaboration with Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, GetSmarter offers an eight-week course in strategic project management. Geared towards project management professionals who look to expand and validate their strategic expertise, this course goes beyond the traditional project management principles. It equips students with the strategic skills, tools, and techniques for successfully achieving project-related and organizational goals.
The course is divided into eight modules: the 21st-century project manager; strategic thinking for project managers; mining your project for value; maximizing value for organizational impact; strategic project leadership; organizational structures and challenges; project change and risk in an organizational context; and the way forward.
Upon completion of the course, students receive a certificate approved by the Project Management Institute. The program requires seven to ten hours of study per week.
Coursera – Rice University
Hosted by Coursera, Rice University offers three short courses that make up a specialization in engineering project management. Each course covers a different stage of engineering management: initiating and planning; scope, time, and cost management; and risk, quality, teams, and procurement.
The first course on initiating and planning is divided into five parts (excluding introduction): a project management overview; project organizations; project communications and stakeholder management; project integration management; and case studies and deliverables.
Rice University is a registered education provider through the Project Management Institute, and these online short courses can count for professional development units with the PMI. Each course takes five weeks to complete and requires approximately 16 to 20 hours of study.
Bioengineering weaves together biological processes and engineering principles, whether it be for genetic manipulation, pharmaceutical development, or agriculture.
Coursera – University of Manchester
The University of Manchester has an online short course in industrial biotechnology, hosted by Coursera. Students learn about the diversity of regulatory and governance issues in synthetic biological applications, the role of bioprocessing in biochemical engineering and industrial biotechnology, and the applications of industrial biotechnology products and processes in healthcare, agriculture, energy, and the environment.
Each week covers a different topic: enzyme discovery and engineering; methods in systems and synthetic biology; biochemical and bioprocess engineering; pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals; case studies: bioenergy and biomaterials; and case studies: glycoscience and biotherapeutics. The course is three weeks long and available for free.
GetSmarter – Harvard’s Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning
GetSmarter, in collaboration with Harvard’s Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning, has an eight-week short course in gene-editing applications. The main focus of the class is CRISPR Cas9 technology and its applications in biotechnology.
The curriculum is split into eight modules: basic principles of molecular biology; CRISPR and genetic engineering; treating genetic diseases; promoting resistance to infectious diseases; combating cancer through research and treatment; optimizing and fighting microorganisms in the food, health, and energy industries; improving agriculture by optimizing crops; and the ethics of using CRISPR. The program requires seven to ten hours of study per week.
Coursera – University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, offers a short drug discovery course hosted by Coursera. Taught by the faculty of UCSD’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, each week explores a new process that pharmaceutical and biotech companies go through when discovering a new drug. The three-week course covers five main areas: the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry landscape; drug discovery (proteomics and genomics); compound selection and preclinical studies; challenges in fragment-based drug discovery for protein kinases; and key concepts in drug delivery.
This course is the first in a three-course program that later explores drug development and drug commercialization. If taken in sequential order, it gives graduates a complete view of the path from drug discovery to clinical trial to product launch.
Nanoengineering applies engineering principles to units of measurement on the nanoscale: one-billionth of a meter, including manipulating individual atoms and molecules.
Coursera – Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have partnered with Coursera to offer Nanotechnology: A Maker’s Course. This course combines instruction and lab demonstration to teach students about nanotechnology tools and how to use them for fabrication and characterization.
The curriculum for this course was developed by experts in nanofabrication, electron beam microscopy, and nano-characterization, in conjunction with the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN). The RTNN offers training and tools, like those demonstrated in the course, to schools, industry, and the public through the United States National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure program.
The syllabus includes topics such as introduction to nanotechnology; nano measurement and characterization tools: scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy; nano measurement and characterization tools: transmission electron microscopy; nano measurement and characterization tools: x-ray and optical characterization; nanofabrication: vacuum pumps and thin film vacuum deposition; nanofabrication: vapor deposition; nanofabrication: patterning and self-assembly; and nanofabrication: etching.
edX – Purdue University
Purdue University, in partnership with edX, offers a course in the fundamentals of nano transistors. Designed for recent graduates and practicing engineers, the course aims to provide an understanding of the essential physics, practical technical considerations, and inherent limits of nano transistors.
Students should have a basic understanding of semiconductor physics and electronic circuits before taking the course. The main areas of study are transistor fundamentals, IV characteristics, and device metrics; MOS electrostatic in one and two dimensions; the Landauer Approach to electron transport; and the transmission theory of MOSFET and its relation to traditional and Vital Source transistor models. The program is four weeks long, requiring six hours of study per week.
Coursera – Technion Israel Institute of Technology
The Technion Israel Institute of Technology offers a two-part short course in nanotechnology and nanosensors, hosted by Coursera. Each part takes three weeks to complete, and the chief learning outcome is having students understand the fabrication, characterization, manipulation, and application of nanomaterials and nanosensors.
Part one covers an introduction to nanotechnology, an introduction to sensors’ science and technology, metal nanoparticle-based sensors, and quantum dots sensors. Part two covers nanowire-based sensors, carbon nanotube-based sensors, sensors based on nanostructures of metal oxide, sensors based on polymeric nanostructures, and electric skin based on nanotechnology.
Python is a general-purpose and high-level programming language, primarily used by software engineers for websites and web applications.
Coursera – The University of Michigan
The University of Michigan offers a specialization in Python 3 Programming, hosted by Coursera. The program consists of five short courses and takes approximately three months to complete. By the end of the specialization, students can write programs that query APIs for data and extract meaningful information from them.
The short courses cover Python basics; Python functions, files, and dictionaries; data collection and processing with Python; Python classes and inheritance; and a Python project: software engineering and image manipulation.
While some working understanding of Python is preferred, it’s not a prerequisite to taking this specialization, especially if a student already has familiarity with a different programming language. After completing all the short courses, students can move on to further specializations in areas like applied data science with Python.
Coursera – The University of Michigan
The University of Michigan’s advanced specialization in applied data science with Python, also hosted by Coursera, is intended for students who have a basic Python background and want to add a skills-based specialization. The program consists of five short courses and takes approximately four months to complete.
Each short course covers a different area of focus: data science in Python; applied plotting, charting, and data representation in Python; applied machine learning in Python; applied text mining in Python; and applied social network analysis in Python. By the end of the specialization, students can analyze the connectivity of a social network, discern whether data visualization is good or bad, conduct an inferential statistical analysis, and enhance data analysis with machine learning.
Renewable energy experts engineer and install products that harness safe and efficient forms of energy. Green builders apply environmentally friendly principles to structural design and project processes.
Coursera – Duke University
Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship, a course offered by Duke University through Coursera, is an online short course that focuses on real-world applications and eschews theory to make room for more case studies.
The three-week class is divided into three main sections: the power of three (entrepreneurship, green building, and renewable energy); a dive into business (opportunities and challenges); and moving from ideas to business implementation. The certificate-level class takes approximately five hours per week of study.
Upon completion, students will be able to define business opportunities, potential solutions, and challenges in the green building and renewable energy sectors, analyze successful businesses in green building or renewable energy, and take real-world initial steps toward launching a corporate initiative or a new business.
Coursera – Ecole Polytechnique
Ecole Polytechnique offers a course in wind resources for renewable energies, hosted by Coursera. The main goal of the course is for students to develop enough knowledge in atmospheric and fluid dynamics to be able to quantify the potential wind resources present in a specific area. The course is divided into modules on energy, meteorology, atmospheric and marine boundary layers, wind or marine turbines, and wind resources.
In a final data analysis project, students perform a full wind resource assessment, taking into account the variability of vertical wind shear, probability distributions of wind velocity, and wind turbine power production. The certificate-level course requires approximately 17 hours of study to complete.
edX – The Delft University of Technology
The Delft University of Technology has partnered with edX to offer a MicroMasters program in solar energy engineering. The program consists of four graduate-level courses, each of which takes between nine and 12 weeks to complete. The curriculum also has four exams.
Students learn to: model all aspects of a working solar cell; design fabrication processes for photovoltaic technologies; evaluate photovoltaic systems; and consider economics, ecology, and the microgrid when using photovoltaic applications. The four courses cover photovoltaic energy conversion, photovoltaic technologies, photovoltaic systems, and the integration of photovoltaic systems into the microgrid.
The credits earned may be counted towards a master of science degree in sustainable engineering technology (SET) or electrical power engineering at Delft.
Where AI and machine learning create autonomous processes, robotics automates larger, physical devices.
Udacity offers a nano degree for self-driving car engineering, in partnership with industry heavyweights like Waymo and Mercedes-Benz.
The curriculum covers computer vision, deep learning, sensor fusion, localization, path planning, control, and system integration. In the capstone course, students work together to design code that they’ll run on Udacity’s self-driving car.
The learning in this course is advanced, diving into deep neural networks, TensorFlow, convolutional neural networks, Kalman filters, and Markov localization.
The program takes five months to complete. Students need to meet prerequisites in Python, C++, and advanced mathematics before joining the program. Udacity also offers an introductory course on the topic of self-driving cars.
Software engineers develop software through various programming languages (Java, Python, Ruby, C++) determined by the software’s destination platform (front-end web, back-end web, desktop). Mobile application development focuses on delivering software to mobile platforms with different operating systems and technical constraints.
In a partnership with Google, Udacity offers a nano degree in Android Kotlin development. The curriculum is designed to enable developers to be more productive and concise. They learn to build professional apps for the world’s most popular mobile platforms using Kotlin and Android Studio. Students will be prepared to become professional Android developers, allowing them to create a diverse portfolio of projects.
The curriculum covers topics such as developing Android apps and advanced Android apps with Kotlin. Upon completion, graduates can build their apps using Android Studio, Android development platform best practices, Kotlin, and Android Jetpack. The program can be completed in four months and requires approximately ten hours of study per week.
Modern urban design consists of the planning of cities and their resources using integration with 21st-century technologies.
GetSmarter – The MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab hosts an online short course on GetSmarter called Beyond Smart Cities: Emerging Design and Technology. MIT faculty lead discussions on how disruptive technologies can be incorporated into urban planning to develop smarter, more sustainable, and more responsive cities.
The six-week course is divided into six modules: design and technology for people-centric cities; the mobility revolution and urban robotics; the live-work transformation (robotics, prefabrication, and IoT technology); a network of neighborhoods (AI, real-time simulation, and emerging systems); sustainable communities (local production and lower consumption); and governance (token economies and algorithmic zoning for prosocial behaviors). The course requires seven to nine hours of study per week.
Coursera – Lund University
Lund University offers a short course called Greening the Economy: Sustainable Cities, hosted by Coursera. This five-week course explores the concept of urban design through the lens of green transformation, connecting key trends of urbanization, decarbonization, and sustainability.
The course is divided into five parts: sustainable urban transformation; infrastructure and planning; urban living labs; urban lifestyles; and urban visions. This course provides key examples of activities for promoting sustainable cities in Europe, Scandinavia, and around the world.
Coursera – EPFL
A three-week online course in smart cities – management of smart urban infrastructures is offered by Coursera, in collaboration with EPFL, one of Europe’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan science and technology institutions. Smart urban technologies’ introduction into legacy infrastructures has resulted in numerous opportunities and challenges for contemporary cities. This course helps students in understanding how to use these smart technologies in their cities’ legacy infrastructures.
The syllabus of this three-week course explores topics such as introduction to smart urban infrastructures and smart cities; smart urban energy systems; smart urban transportation systems; and smart cities.
Upon completion, students develop a solid understanding of the nature of disruptive innovations in urban infrastructure systems, learn about strategies to effectively manage the transition from legacy infrastructures to smart urban systems, and also learn about the management of the transition phase.
User experience designers are responsible for the customer-facing side of technological products. Human-computer interaction specialists research traditional and nontraditional methods of interfacing with technology.
GetSmarter – MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
GetSmarter has teamed up with MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) to offer a six-week course in human-computer interaction for user experience design.
Eight of MIT’s CSAIL experts go over the fundamentals of UX design and also dive into the frontier areas of their UX and HCI research. The course curriculum has six modules: the essence of interaction design; natural interaction; collaborative computer interaction; intelligent user interfaces and prototyping; multimedia, speech, and vision in computer interaction; and the future directions of user interaction. The program requires between eight and ten hours of study each week.
Virtual reality specialists design and test simulated realities with user interfaces. Augmented reality specialists use wearable tech to layer simulated realities over top of daily life.
edX – The University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, and edX have a professional certificate program in VR app development. Over three courses, students will study computer graphics, the fundamentals of VR, and the creation of VR applications.
Individual topics within these courses include 3D tracking and input devices, VR app design, VR and game engines, and 3D user interaction, among others. Working with Unity 3D and OpenGL, graduates leave the program with working VR apps of their own.
Students learn about designing VR applications with Unity 3D, transforming coordinate systems for 3D interactions, making a VR application successful, and creating their own VR app.
User experience and user interface (UX/UI) design sits at the crossroads between people and technology. UX/UI designers research, test, and develop different ways of interacting with websites, apps, and physical devices. The more people interact with technology, the more UX/UI skills are in demand.
Lean Six Sigma is a blend of two manufacturing concepts focused on minimizing product defects and the wastage of resources. A number of universities offer certification programs in Lean Six Sigma, which can generally be completed in six to 12 weeks.