Aalto University: Machine learning course by Aalto University Summer School and Unite! kicks off with 60 students

The summer course Human-Centered Machine-Learning kicked off in August 2022 with 60 students on Aalto University campus with students from Brazil, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, China, Turkey and Spain. The course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) offered in collaboration with Aalto University Summer School and the European university network Unite!. Blended intensive programmes offer new and more flexible forms of mobility, in which physical mobility is combined with virtual learning. Higher Education Institutions can, in cooperation with their partner institutions, organise blended intensive programmes for students and staff.

AI and Machine learning are the most powerful tools organisations are using today to make informed decisions, attract new customers and find new sources of revenue. The course offers an innovative and hands-on take on current machine learning systems’ main components and combinations.

The topic of the summer course has gained tremendous interest; it is the largest of Aalto University Summer School’s courses thus far.

‘What I particularly like with Summer School at Aalto University is the opportunity to meet such a diverse group of students from various backgrounds and nationalities; it is truly eye-opening.’ Tomas Nordström, Bachelor’s student in Engineering Mathematics at Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan.

Summer School student Tomas Nordström standing in front of the Aalto University Computer Science building, smiling with his arms crossed.
Tomas Nördström from Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm, has been pleased with his experience at the Human-Centered Machine Learning course this summer.
‘So far in my education, we have only been using machine learning tools without knowing how they work. Understanding more about the mechanics of machine learning will allow me to use this tool with better precision. I also hope that we will become aware of the ethical dilemma regarding machine learning and gain a better understanding of the dangers and risks,’ Nordström comments.

Course teachers from around the world
Course themes include the ethics of artificial intelligence, privacy-preserving data processing, probabilistic circuits​ and model validation and selection, to name a few. The summer course is taught by a group of professors from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Politecnico di Torino, Technische Universitat Darmstadt and Aalto University – all member universities of the Unite! network.

‘I was very pleased to see the interest this course has generated amongst students in different fields of engineering, not only on the Machine Learning topic but also in their enthusiasm to apply it to their own projects. We aim to create a truly unique experience for the course participants through diverse perspectives from students and the international teaching team,’ says Program Manager Marcela Acosta.

The course teachers are Cecilo Angulo, Professor in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at ​Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Alexander Jung, Assistant Professor in Machine Learning and author, Kristian Kersting, Professor in Machine Learning at the CS Department at Technische Universitat Darmstadt, ​Professor Nitin Sawhney, head of the CRAI-CIS (CRitical AI and Crisis Interrogatives) research group at Aalto University, Yoonjoo Cho, university lecturer in Intercultural Communication at Aalto University, and Luca Vassio, Assistant Professor of SmartData in the area of Telecommunication and Networking at Politecnico di Torino.