Northeastern University Launches “Pop-Up Classrooms” Using Data Analytics to Design Short-Format Courses

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Feb. 28, 2017 – Northeastern University today announced the launch of a new computer science program that will utilize “pop-up classrooms” to train working professionals in the areas of computer science, data science and software engineering. Offered at the university’s Silicon Valley campus and in San Francisco, the Professional Topics series is designed for people who wish to earn a master’s degree in computer science, and classes will bolster the knowledge of students who already have experience in this field. Courses will initially address the areas of search, deep learning, and data visualization, with a wider range of topics introduced over the coming year.

The program will apply data science to determine which types of courses should be offered at precisely the right times and the right locations that will allow students to balance their schedules and optimize their educational experience.

The Professional Topics series will be led by Ricardo Baeza-Yates, the Chief Technology Officer of NTENT, a semantic search technology company based in Carlsbad, California. Dr. Baeza-Yates will oversee the growth of the computer science programs offered in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, and he will also recruit full and part-time faculty from the local community who can enrich the courses and programs in both locations, and ultimately throughout the Northeastern University College of Computer and Information Science network with his deep industrial and research experience.

Dr. Baeza-Yates’ research interests include algorithms and data structures, information retrieval, web search and data mining, and data science and visualization. Prior to joining NTENT, Dr. Baeza-Yates served as Vice President of Research at Yahoo Labs in charge of many worldwide sites including Barcelona, Haifa, and London as well as teams in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. He is a co-author of the best-selling textbook, Modern Information Retrieval, and he is also a fellow of both the ACM and IEEE, the main professional associations in computing.

The Professional Topics series is the second in a suite of newly-announced computer science programs offered in the Bay Area. Previously, Northeastern announced a partnership with Lookout, a leading mobile security startup, to launch a micro credential program in San Francisco that allows working professionals to take courses and bolster their skills in emerging areas of computer science.

For more information about Northeastern University’s new Professional Topics series, please visit: http://www.northeastern.edu/siliconvalley/academic_program/professional-topics/

 About Northeastern University

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university that pushes learning and discovery far beyond the boundaries of classroom and campus. This distinctive approach is built on a tradition of actively engaging our university community with industry and nonprofit partners around the world. Northeastern is the recognized leader in experiential learning, powered by the world’s most far-reaching and innovative cooperative education program. We offer students opportunities for professional work, research, service, and global learning with more than 3,000 employers in more than 100 countries. The same spirit of engagement guides a use-inspired research enterprise that integrates faculty across disciplines to solve global challenges. We focus on issues where we have maximum impact, including physical and cybersecurity, drug discovery and delivery, coastal sustainability, and global resilience. External funding for faculty research exceeded $140 million last year, growing by 189 percent since 2006. Our regional campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina; Seattle; Silicon Valley; and Toronto are platforms for flexible professional learning programs, undergraduate and graduate experiential opportunities, and industry research partnerships. Northeastern offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools.