Rose-Hulman continues to adapt its curriculum to meet the challenges of today’s fast-paced world.

The institute has added data science as a secondary academic major. This multidisciplinary field combines science, mathematical algorithms and computer science principles to extract knowledge and insights from data. The new course of study is offered by departments covering computer science, software engineering and mathematics, but it is available to students in all major courses of study offered by the institute.

Students also can earn a multidisciplinary minor in data science. Learn more about the new academic program here.

Program Coordinator Sriram Mohan, associate professor of computer science and software engineering, says the new major will provide students with in-depth hands-on experience in data engineering, data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence. He points out that analysis of other college data science programs shows that Rose-Hulman will better prepare students for careers in these areas by requiring more fundamental courses, more advanced electives and a capstone experience that’s focused on data science.

“Data science is revolutionizing organizations, and graduates with data science and analytic skills will be critical to the future of the world’s economy,” Mohan says.

As early as next year, computer scientists predict that 1.7 megabytes of data will be generated every second for every human on Earth. The total amount of data is expected to be around 44 trillion gigabytes.

Data science and machine learning are two of the fastest growing areas of the technology sector, with job demand currently far outweighing prospective employees with skills in the field, according to LinkedIn’s 2017 U.S. Emerging Jobs Report.

Google’s chief economist Hal Varian has stated, “The ability to take data – to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it – that’s going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades.”