Technology Program
Take your first step into Data Science & Big Data
Data Science is an emerging field using Big Data that relies heavily on the expertise of other fields to help us make better decisions. Research by the McKinsey Global Institute (Big Data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity) forecasts a 50-60% gap between the supply and demand of people with deep analytical talent in big data. Once obscured as a subset of computer science, Data Science is in reality an accessible way for students and professionals of any background to harness the power of software and data engineering tools. The techniques, theories, logic, ideas and vocabulary of any field (including medicine, law, public policy, finance, and education) can be stored and used as data.
The HEAT Technology Program distills the most essential concepts of data science and engineering into a practical course aimed towards solving complex humanities, business, legal, policy, and science problems at scale for the knowledge economy. |
Visit Bay Area technology companies
Students will embark on a field trip to one or more of the following technology companies: ContextU, Entefy, Facebook, Google, Intel, LinkedIn, MaiCoin (Bitcoin), Twitter, Yelp, and Stitcher. A founder or employee will guest lecture, field questions from students, and provide job interview advice. Past guest speakers include Pam Costa from Apple/Facebook data analytics, Jeffrey Spehar from Facebook engineering, Andrew Leverentz from Google engineering, Kern Peng from Intel engineering, Jun Rao and Evion Kim from LinkedIn engineering, Danny Yang from MaiCoin engineering, and Ben Parham from Stitcher.
Who will build the next Facebook?
Step into the shoes of Mark Zuckerberg as he first started building Facebook from his dorm room. We will first use the same software tools he started with – PHP-MySQL – to build an interactive web app that leverages substantial amounts of data. Through a hands-on exploration of both the potential and limitations of these tools, students will instinctively understand the motivations for open source software development, cloud hosting like Amazon Web Services, and for Big Data solutions like Google’s MapReduce. Students will be able to test-drive their software creations on Google Glass or Oculus Rift and compete for a chance to win either device at the closing Hackathon. Students walk away with enough engineering savvy to learn on their own and to pursue one of more than 4.4 million Big Data jobs to emerge by 2015.
Learning Goals
In this course, students will:
Participants will also do one of the following:
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