Exploring Digital Information Technologies for Non-Engineers
Fall 2024

NOTE: This is an older version of the course website. The current version can be found here.

Course Description

This course will give students from outside of Engineering an under-the-hood view of 12 important technologies that will impact their daily lives in the next decade.

For each technology, students will

1. understand the core technical challenges in realizing the technology
2. gain intuition on how the challenges are being solved
3. appreciate how such technologies translate to business and revenue, and
4. identify implications in areas such as privacy, fairness, policy, ethics, and other paradigm shifts.

Technical subjects to be considered include basics of sensing, computing, communication, and control, the 4 pillars of technology. To help students better relate to the topics discussed in the course, each technology will be highlighted using one or more well-established companies (e.g., Comcast, ATT, Google, Meta, ADT, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Verisign).

Logistics

Lectures

Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:00am - 11:50am at 3081 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg (ECEB)

See Lecture Schedule

Labs

Fridays, 11:00am - 12:50pm or 1:00pm - 2:50pm at 3081 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg (ECEB)

We will use Mathematica in the labs. To work on the labs, you will have to download and install Mathematica on your computers from here (using your netID and password).

You can also access notebooks directly from within your browser at www.wolframcloud.com by logging in with your netID and password. However some of the more code-intensive exercises can run into issues on the cloud. We recommend installing the desktop application for a better experience

Labs will be submitted and graded using Gradescope. Details about the submission process will be provided during class.

Communication

TBD

Office Hours

Instructor: Abrita Chakravarty

Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:50am - 12:20pm or by appointment

TA: Sattwik Basu

Tuesdays, 4:00pm - 5:00pm at 4034 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg

Calendar

Introduction

Mon, Aug 26

Course Introduction & Landscape
Logistics, topics, grading, prerequisites, etc.
10 thousand foot view (Internet) to 100 feet view (programming): Part 1 Slides / Part 2 Notebook

Wed, Aug 28

Course Introduction & Landscape contd.: ~~Slides~~

Fri, Aug 30

History & Map of Keywords + Lab 1
Introduction to Wolfram Notebooks: Slides Notebook

Past & Present — Connecting the World

Mon, Sep 2

Labor Day (Holiday)

Wed, Sep 4

WiFi: Slides

Fri, Sep 6

Lab 2
WiFi: Notebook

Mon, Sep 9

Cellular: Slides

Wed, Sep 11

Cellular (contd.): Extra slide with SINR Calculation

Fri, Sep 13

No Lab

Mon, Sep 16

Internet (1/3)
Connectivity, Forwarding, and Routing: Slides, Cliques

Wed, Sep 18

Internet (2/3)
HTTP, DNS, ~~TCP, and Layering~~: Slides

Fri, Sep 20

Lab 3
Internet and Graphs: Notebook

Mon, Sep 23

Internet (3/3 TCP and Layering): Slides

Wed, Sep 25

Client-Server; Distribution and Streaming Part 1: Slides

Fri, Sep 27

Lab 4
Distribution and Streaming; Social Networks: Notebook

Mon, Sep 30

Social Network: Lecture Notebook

Wed, Oct 2

Distribution and Streaming Part 2; Exam 1 Review: Study Guide/Sample Exam

Fri, Oct 4

Exam 1

Intelligence & Implications

Mon, Oct 7

Introduction to Machine Intelligence: Slides

Wed, Oct 9

Search Engines: Slides

Fri, Oct 11

Lab 5
Search Engines: Pre-lab Video; Notebook

Mon, Oct 14

Recommendation Systems: Slides; Notebook

Wed, Oct 16

Machine Learning I: Notebook

Fri, Oct 18

Lab 6
Machine Learning: Notebook

Mon, Oct 21

Machine Learning II: ~~Slides~~ Contd. from Oct 16

Wed, Oct 23

Ethics and Privacy ~~and Fairness~~: Slides

Fri, Oct 25

Lab 7
~~Security and Authentication~~ Neural Networks: Slides

Mon, Oct 28

Authentication: Slides, Notebook

Wed, Oct 30

Physical Security; Exam 2 Review: Slides; Study Guide/Sample Exam

Fri, Nov 1

Exam 2

Future

Mon, Nov 4

Sense-Compute-Communicate-Actuate: Slides

Wed, Nov 6

Sense-Compute-Communicate-Actuate: Slides

Fri, Nov 8

Lab 8
Sense-Compute-Communicate-Actuate: Notebook

Mon, Nov 11

Computer Vision: Slides

Wed, Nov 13

Speech and Natural Language Processing: Slides

Fri, Nov 15

Lab 9
Computer Vision and NLP: Notebook

Mon, Nov 18

Review of missed topics: Slides

Wed, Nov 20

Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality: Slides

Fri, Nov 22

No Lab

Sat, Nov 23

Fall Break Begins

Sun, Dec 1

Fall Break Ends

Mon, Dec 2

Self-driving (~~Guest Lecture~~): Slides

Wed, Dec 4

File Systems: Consistency and Cloud Storage: Slides

Fri, Dec 6

Lab 10
Working with Data: Notebook

Final Week

Mon, Dec 9

Exam 3 Review: Study Guide

Wed, Dec 11

Exam 3

Exam Information

The course has three midterm exams. There will NOT be any final exam.

Each exam will be 50 mins long. You are allowed 1 letter-size (8.5" x 11") handwritten cheatsheet (you may use both sides). The exam is closed book/notes, and calculators are not allowed.
Detailed information on logistics, format, and grading will be provided during exam review sessions.

Exam 1

Exam 1 will be on ~~Wed, Oct 2~~ Fri, Oct 4. This exam will test concepts covered in the Past & Present module.

Exam 2

Exam 2 will be on ~~Wed, Oct 30~~ Fri, Nov 1. This exam will test concepts covered in the Intelligence & Implications module.

Exam 3

Exam 3 will be on Wed, Dec 11. This exam will test concepts covered in the Future module.

Grading Information

Your final grade will be based on a weighted combination of the following:

Classroom participation: 20% (6 absences allowed)
Weekly Labs (best 8 out of 10): 35%
Three Midterm Exams: 3 x 15 = 45%
(Regrade policy: Correct mistakes and turn in for half of the points lost.)

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Exploring Digital Information Technologies for Non-Engineers Fall 2024