Category: Platforms | Tech

IBL News | New York

NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Institute (DLI) announced this week that it has started to offer instructor-led workshops remotely via a virtual classroom.

The learning branch of NVIDIA has already trained over 200,000 developers and data scientists globally on areas such as AI, accelerated computing, and accelerated data. Over 550 certified instructors have delivered the training.

“Over the past several weeks, DLI has delivered hands-on training to nearly 800 attendees during NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference,” explained Craig Clawson, Director at NVIDIA’s DLI.

In addition to these virtual workshops, learners have access to self-paced online courses via the DLI website. Upon completion, participants can earn a certificate of competency to support their long-term professional growth.

Robert Daigle, AI Business and Innovation Leader at Lenovo Data Center Group, said that “DLI courses are key to unlocking the power for GPUs and enabling AI workloads.”

According to the company, more than 3,000 educators at universities worldwide have leveraged specialized training resources and teaching kits, including free online DLI courses with certification assessments.

DLI’s catalog included updated versions of the following courses this month:

• Fundamentals of Deep Learning for Multi-GPUs
• Deep Learning for Autonomous Vehicles — Perception
• Medical Image Classification Using the MedNIST Dataset
• Optimization and Deployment of TensorFlow Models with TensorRT
• Deep Learning at Scale with Horovod
• Modeling Time Series Data with Recurrent Neural Networks in Keras

Finally, more training delivery partners–such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Numerical Algorithms Group and QA–have been added to the existing network of educational services.

NVIDIA’s DLI platform is powered by New York-based IBL Education.

IBL News | New York

edX.org announced on Friday that it will offer a 30% discount on Professional Certificates, MicroMasters, and MicroBachelors programs to anyone who has lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

“We are committed to providing an opportunity for people to re-enter the workforce as quickly as possible and with a stronger skill set than before,” wrote Anant Agarwal, Co-CEO at edX, in a blog-post. “We offer an innovative suite of stackable, modular credentials that deliver meaningful career impact,” he added.

The initiative, titled Workforce Recovery Acceleration Program, is also available for corporations and governments who want to help their displaced or furloughed employees to learn in-demand work skills in fields like data analytics, computer science, and business.

According to edX data, 87% of people who complete a MicroMasters program and 81% who complete a Professional Certificate program state that they achieve a pay raise, a promotion, or a new job.

For earning the mentioned 30% discount, the aspirant needs to complete a form and submit an application.

IBL News | New York

Udacity opened yesterday for enrollment its AWS Cloud Architect Nanodegree program, intended to teach experienced developers how to create a highly available network with a fault-tolerant database using the Amazon’s core service.

“Learners will be able to monitor availability, test failure scenarios with recovery, and evaluate and harden the cloud environment’s security vulnerabilities,” explained Alison Rodal, Product Leader at Udacity, in a blog-post.

The program will include three instructors: Tom Verbiscer, Director of Engineering at Current Media, Leslie Bell, Technical Trainer at AWS, and Mehdi Razvi, DevOps & Cloud Security Consultant at NuEra Automotive Solutions.

The estimated time for completing the program is three months and the overall cost is $226 per month. The company offers the first month for free.

Udacity’s degree follows the high-demand of cloud architects in a market expected to reach over $600 billion by 2023, with Amazon owning over 30% of the current market.

IBL News | New York 

In an effort to understand how AI can be applied in the fight against COVID-19, Udacity is organizing a virtual two-day, free conference on May 12th and 13th.

The “AI for Healthcare in the Time of COVID-19” event will gather through leaders who work at the intersection of technology and medicine.

This conference will offer a blend of panel discussions, keynote speakers, and breakout sessions that will include topics such as AI to detect disease, ethics in AI, deciphering the data of COVID-19, and advancements in wearable technology.

Topics will be specifically covering:

• Predicting Disease with AI, How AI Improves Clinical Decision-making
• How AI is Helping Fight the Spread of COVID-19
• Can AI Predict & Prevent the Next Pandemic?
• Ethics in AI and Preventing Bias in Healthcare and Diagnosis
• Top Use Cases in AI & How to Scope Them
• What’s on the Cutting-edge of AI?

Udacity instructors who are currently creating the coursework for the upcoming AI for Healthcare Nanodegree program will lead working sessions. Participants will be able to collaborate on a project and gain practical skills in AI within healthcare. Registration is open.

IBL News | New York

Coursera and edX decided to strengthen their support to universities around the world.

With 2,600 colleges enrolled on its new Coronavirus Response Initiative, Coursera launched a machine learning solution called CourseMatch this week.

This tool ingests a school’s on-campus catalog and matches each class to the most relevant course in Coursera’s library of 3,800 courses.

“This enables universities in the US and internationally to quickly deliver relevant courses to their students,” Emily Glassberg Sands, and Marianne Sorba, Data Scientists at Coursera explained in a blog post.

The solution has already matched more than 2.6 million on-campus courses across 1,800 schools to courses on Coursera, according to the company data.

Regarding edX, its founding partners, Harvard and MIT, and other partner institutions such as UC Berkeley, Universitat Politècnica de València and IBM have expanded the Remote Access Program to all universities around the world by offering free access to a catalog of content.

edX has created a webpage for any university around the world looking to participate.

“As the spread of COVID-19 has suspended in-person interactions, I’m hopeful that we can harness the power of online learning to face these challenges head-on, and to find solutions to navigate this time, together,” said Anant Agarwal, CEO at edX.

IBL News | New York

edX.org and the School of Mechanical Engineering of Purdue University announced this week the launch of a fully online Master’s in Mechanical Engineering.

This online degree is the 12th fully online Master’s degree available on the edX platform, and the second from Purdue. Purdue’s online Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering was announced in September 2019.

The program is ranked the #1 online mechanical engineering program, according to U.S. News & World Report.

edX and Purdue highlighted that “the learning experience is of equal quality and rigor to the on-campus experience, and is designed for working professionals.”

“These new College of Engineering online degrees on edX are in line with increasingly loud demands for life-long learning opportunities that allow professionals to update and enhance their career skills,” said Gerry McCartney, Executive Vice President for Purdue Online.

Priced at $22,500, the Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, includes 30 credit hours and can be completed in 12 months or up to 4 years.

The degree enables the students to choose classes from a wide variety of topics in Mechanical Engineering, including:

• Acoustics
• Bioengineering
• Combustion
• Computational Engineering
• Design
• Fluid Mechanics
• Heat Transfer
• HVAC & Refrigeration
• Manufacturing & Materials
• Mechanics & Vibration
• Nanotechnology
• Robotics
• Solid Mechanics
• Systems, Measurement & Controls

“Purdue has a strategic goal of educating all types of students online, while quickly recognizing and responding to new types of learners with educational opportunities that meet Purdue’s high standards and can be delivered at scale,”

Master’s degrees on edX are unique because they are stacked degree programs with a MicroMasters® program component. A MicroMasters program is a series of graduate-level courses that provides learners with valuable standalone skills that translate into career-focused advancement, as well as the option to use the completed coursework as a stepping stone toward credit in a full Master’s degree program. We will be announcing the MicroMasters program that stacks into the Master’s in Mechanical Engineering in the near future.

Learn more about the application requirements and deadlines for the Master’s in Mechanical Engineering.

IBL News | New York

Harvard University and edX launched on Monday a free online course that addresses an urgent need for healthcare clinicians: understanding mechanical ventilation so they can assist in the operation and professionally treat Coronavirus patients.

The 2 to 5 hours open course “Mechanical Ventilation for COVID 19” will help prepare licensed non-ICU hospital professionals to assist in this subject during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the number of patients requiring critical care continues to grow, medical professionals who do not normally work in an ICU setting are being reassigned to the ICU.

The course was developed in collaboration with the American Association for Respiratory Care, Dr. Susan Wilcox and Thomas Piraino.

Wilcox is the Division Chief, Critical Care at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston leading the team addressing the influx of COVID-19 patients, and Piraino is the Clinical Specialist for Mechanical Ventilation for the Centre of Excellence in Mechanical Ventilation at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Wilcox and Piraino wanted to create a resource that would help not only their teams but teams across the globe who are experiencing the same urgent challenge.

While the global shortage of ventilators remains a major issue, proper training is another challenge that hospitals will face, and this edX.org course aims to address that need.

“Bringing together Wilcox and Piraino’s experience with edX and Harvard’s expertise in delivering high-quality online courses that deliver practical knowledge that can be applied immediately, this course was rapidly developed and made available for medical professionals anywhere,” explained edX on a press-release.

Update: Licensed medical professionals who complete the course and pass a quiz can claim up to three continuing education credit hours for no fee.