Skill development course launched @ IHub-Data, IIIT-Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A 50-week-long online programme on foundations of modern machine learning designed for the benefit of under-graduate engineering students got underway at IIIT Hyderabad on Monday. Prof P J Narayanan, director, inaugurated the programme.

In his address, Prof Narayanan said IIIT-H had been around for 23 years, where students and scholars who studied on the campus, had performed exceptionally well in data-driven technologies, like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, computer vision, natural language processing and other allied domains, most of whom are doing well across the globe.

The year-long programme has students drawn from all parts of the country, with a fair mix of gender and from different socio-economic settings. Prof Narayanan called upon students to make best use of the presence of accomplished teachers and teaching associates in the programme and prepare themselves for serious engagement with research in these domains.

Explaining the rationale behind planning such an online programme, Prof C V Jawahar, Dean (R&D), IIIT-H and Smart Mobility Head, IHub-Data, mentioned that despite the availability of a plethora of online courses, public resources and utilities, there was always a dearth of professionals in machine learning, who could solve problems for industry or who could take up research problems. He mentioned that the pedagogy for this online programme had been designed to provide more avenues for human-to-human interaction between learners and mentors.

Prof U Deva Priyakumar, Academic Head, IHub-Data, which is executing the programme, mentioned how IHub has been at the forefront in promoting research on data-driven technologies and its translation to products, in order to cater to wider needs of both research community as well as other important stakeholders in society at large.

Prof Anoop M Namboodiri delivered the first lecture of the programme on introduction to modern machine learning. The programme consists of lecture sessions, practical sessions, invited talks by experts and also a few social gatherings. It is expected to conclude in September next year.