Online courses directory (2511)

This subject is aimed at students with little or no programming experience. It aims to provide students with an understanding of the role computation can play in solving problems. It also aims to help students, regardless of their major, to feel justifiably confident of their ability to write small programs that allow them to accomplish useful goals. The class will use the Python™ programming language.

This course introduces students to the principles of computation. Upon completion of 6.001, students should be able to explain and apply the basic methods from programming languages to analyze computational systems, and to generate computational solutions to abstract problems. Substantial weekly programming assignments are an integral part of the course. This course is worth 4 Engineering Design Points.

6.002 is designed to serve as a first course in an undergraduate electrical engineering (EE), or electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) curriculum. At MIT, 6.002 is in the core of department subjects required for all undergraduates in EECS.

The course introduces the fundamentals of the lumped circuit abstraction. Topics covered include: resistive elements and networks; independent and dependent sources; switches and MOS transistors; digital abstraction; amplifiers; energy storage elements; dynamics of first- and second-order networks; design in the time and frequency domains; and analog and digital circuits and applications. Design and lab exercises are also significant components of the course. 6.002 is worth 4 Engineering Design Points. The 6.002 content was created collaboratively by Profs. Anant Agarwal and Jeffrey H. Lang.

The course uses the required textbook Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits. Agarwal, Anant, and Jeffrey H. Lang. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Elsevier, July 2005. ISBN: 9781558607354.

This course examines signals, systems and inference as unifying themes in communication, control and signal processing. Topics include input-output and state-space models of linear systems driven by deterministic and random signals; time- and transform-domain representations in discrete and continuous time; group delay; state feedback and observers; probabilistic models; stochastic processes, correlation functions, power spectra, spectral factorization; least-mean square error estimation; Wiener filtering; hypothesis testing; detection; matched filters.

In this subject, we consider two basic topics in cellular biophysics, posed here as questions:

1. Which molecules are transported across cellular membranes, and what are the mechanisms of transport? How do cells maintain their compositions, volume, and membrane potential?
2. How are potentials generated across the membranes of cells? What do these potentials do?

Although the questions posed are fundamentally biological questions, the methods for answering these questions are inherently multidisciplinary. As we will see throughout the course, the role of mathematical models is to express concepts precisely enough that precise conclusions can be drawn. In connection with all the topics covered, we will consider both theory and experiment. For the student, the educational value of examining the interplay between theory and experiment transcends the value of the specific knowledge gained in the subject matter.

This course is jointly offered through four departments, available to both undergraduates and graduates.

This course analyzes issues associated with the implementation of higher-level programming languages. Topics covered include: fundamental concepts, functions, and structures of compilers, the interaction of theory and practice, and using tools in building software. The course includes a multi-person project on compiler design and implementation.

This course covers the algorithmic and machine learning foundations of computational biology combining theory with practice. We cover both foundational topics in computational biology, and current research frontiers. We study fundamental techniques, recent advances in the field, and work directly with current large-scale biological datasets.

This course explores the ultimate limits to communication and computation, with an emphasis on the physical nature of information and information processing. Topics include: information and computation, digital signals, codes and compression, applications such as biological representations of information, logic circuits, computer architectures, and algorithmic information, noise, probability, error correction, reversible and irreversible operations, physics of computation, and quantum computation. The concept of entropy applied to channel capacity and to the second law of thermodynamics.

This course teaches simple reasoning techniques for complex phenomena: divide and conquer, dimensional analysis, extreme cases, continuity, scaling, successive approximation, balancing, cheap calculus, and symmetry. Applications are drawn from the physical and biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Examples include bird and machine flight, neuron biophysics, weather, prime numbers, and animal locomotion. Emphasis is on low-cost experiments to test ideas and on fostering curiosity about phenomena in the world.

This course is an introductory subject in the field of electric power systems and electrical to mechanical energy conversion. Electric power has become increasingly important as a way of transmitting and transforming energy in industrial, military and transportation uses. Electric power systems are also at the heart of alternative energy systems, including wind and solar electric, geothermal and small scale hydroelectric generation.

This course is a project-based introduction to manipulating and characterizing cells and biological molecules using microfabricated tools. It is designed for first year undergraduate students. In the first half of the term, students perform laboratory exercises designed to introduce (1) the design, manufacture, and use of microfluidic channels, (2) techniques for sorting and manipulating cells and biomolecules, and (3) making quantitative measurements using optical detection and fluorescent labeling. In the second half of the term, students work in small groups to design and test a microfluidic device to solve a real-world problem of their choosing. Includes exercises in written and oral communication and team building.

This course provides a challenging introduction to some of the central ideas of theoretical computer science. It attempts to present a vision of "computer science beyond computers": that is, CS as a set of mathematical tools for understanding complex systems such as universes and minds. Beginning in antiquity—with Euclid's algorithm and other ancient examples of computational thinking—the course will progress rapidly through propositional logic, Turing machines and computability, finite automata, Gödel's theorems, efficient algorithms and reducibility, NP-completeness, the P versus NP problem, decision trees and other concrete computational models, the power of randomness, cryptography and one-way functions, computational theories of learning, interactive proofs, and quantum computing and the physical limits of computation. Class participation is essential, as the class will include discussion and debate about the implications of many of these ideas.

6.101 is an introductory experimental laboratory that explores the design, construction, and debugging of analog electronic circuits. Lectures and six laboratory projects investigate the performance characteristics of diodes, transistors, JFETs, and op-amps, including the construction of a small audio amplifier and preamplifier. Seven weeks are devoted to the design and implementation, and written and oral presentation of a project in an environment similar to that of engineering design teams in industry. The course provides opportunity to simulate real-world problems and solutions that involve trade offs and the use of engineering judgment. Engineers from local analog engineering companies come to campus to help students with their design projects.