Environmental Studies 303-A: Special Topic - Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies: Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development Goals

Credits 4
Credit Type
Cross-Listed
Semester Offered
Fall
Faculty
Torres Molina

"Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development Goals" is an interactive course that brings together machine learning, software engineering, and human-computer interaction to promote global sustainability efforts. We will study the exciting world where intelligent systems meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the first of which are No poverty (SDG 1), Zero hunger (SDG 2), Good health and well-being (SDG 3), Quality education (SDG 4), Gender equality (SDG 5), Clean water and sanitation  (SDG 6). We will read, present, and discuss several research scientific papers and technical demonstrations to consider the societal, environmental, and economic implications of intelligent systems to facilitate or prevent the targets from the SDGs. Students will work on a multidisciplinary semester-long group project based on one of the SDGs chosen, where students elaborate on a research paper and evaluate/create a technical prototype to present at the end of the semester. This course assumes no prior experience in machine learning, human-computer interaction,  software engineering, or computing research, but does assume prior experience reading and writing programs as well as scholarly texts. May be elected as Computer Science 302, but must be elected as Environmental Studies 303 to satisfy the Interdisciplinary course requirement for Environmental Studies majors.

Prerequisites

General Studies 176; and Computer Science 167 or 270.