upGrad partners with IIT Madras to launch a one of its kind ‘Advanced Certification in Machine Learning and Cloud’

• IIT Madras ventures into the ML & Cloud space for the very first time;
• IIT Madras joins the league of other IITs to offer courses online

Chennai, September 25^th, 2019: upGrad Education Private Limited in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), a NRIF Rank 1 Engineering Institute four times in a row, launched a unique course in ‘Advanced Certification in Machine Learning & Cloud’ at the IIT Madras Auditorium, Central Lecture Theatre. The launch was graced with the presence of notable academicians, Dr. Janakiram D., Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras, Dr. Seshagiri Rao V, former Satish Dhawan Professor, ISRO also former Distinguished Scientist & Associate Director at SDSC ISRO and the co-founders of upGrad - Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli.

                    

Cutting-edge learning platform and personalised mentorship provided by upGrad, made it the obvious choice for IIT Madras to partner with, as it ventures into this new domain for the first time. The course launched today is a 9-month certification program priced at INR 2 lakhs. It will be taught by Prof Janakiram D. from IIT Madras, along with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from Flipkart, Gramener, Zee5. The course includes 100+ hours of industry projects, under the mentorship of SMEs. Learners will also avail upGrad’s offering of career support.

(R to L) Dr. Seshagiri Rao V, former Distinguished Scientist & Associate Director, SDSC ISRO, Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder & MD, upGrad, Dr. Janakiram D., Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, along with Ronnie Screwvala, Co-Founder & Chairman, upGrad, at the launch of upGrad’s ‘Advanced Certification in Machine Learning and Cloud’, in collaboration with IIT Madras.

Machine learning is expected to be at the forefront of this dynamic change. Hence, the global artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning market is slated to accumulate voluminous revenues in the coming times. There is a requirement of high computing power and special-purpose hardware infrastructure to implement machine learning capabilities in an enterprise application. This requirement eventually increases the cost and acts as a barrier to working with machine learning models such as recommender system, chatbots etc. This is where Cloud Computing plays a critical role, as Cloud provides access to the required infrastructure to experiment with machine learning capabilities and scale up the projects in the real world. Learning the combination of ML and Cloud will boost the careers of the learners.

At the launch, Ronnie Screwvala, Co-founder & Chairman, upGrad said, “IIT Madras is one of the premier institutes of our country, known for its innovation and forward thinking. upGrad is very proud to be associated with them to launch the ‘Advanced Certification in Machine Learning and Cloud’, as a first among many more. It’s timely as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will touch our lives for the long term so we are pleased to offer this course on our platform with the necessary expertise from IIT Madras.”

(R to L) Dr. Seshagiri Rao V, former Distinguished Scientist & Associate Director, SDSC ISRO, Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder & MD, upGrad, Dr. Janakiram D., Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, along with Ronnie Screwvala, Co-Founder & Chairman, upGrad, at the launch of upGrad’s ‘Advanced Certification in Machine Learning and Cloud’, in collaboration with IIT Madras.

Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & Managing Director, upGrad said, “54% of the respondents from a consumer preference survey conducted by upGrad showed that people who are not working in the Data and Machine Learning  field, also want to transition into it. This shows the need for the kind of course we are offering in collaboration with IIT Madras. This program will impart the much needed skill set enabling working professionals to scale newer heights in their careers. Our partnership with IIT Madras, one of the best technology institutes in the country, will allow us to provide our learners with quality education with convenience.”

“We are excited to partner with upGrad and launch this course on Machine Learning and Cloud. We are looking forward to teach and train the young, talented minds enrolling into the program," said Prof. Janakiram D., who will be teaching the course.

The industry stalwarts and the academicians present discussed at length the relevance and need of a certification programme in Machine Learning and Cloud. The application of artificial intelligence across multiple industries including Healthcare, IT, Banking, and Manufacturing has played a key role in market growth. A course like this will upskill professionals to stay relevant and be able to work in these industries.

About upGrad

upGrad was founded in early 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli and Ravijot Chugh, with the aim of providing formal education online. In a short span of 4 years, upGrad on-boarded over 15K paid learners and impacted more than 363K individuals globally, making it India’s largest online higher education company, basis gross revenue generated from the Indian market.

upGrad provides programs in the areas of Data Science, Technology and Management to college students, working professionals and enterprises. These programs are designed and delivered in collaboration with top-notch universities like IIIT-B, BITS Pilani, MICA, Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education and others. To further enhance the learning experience, a comprehensive ecosystem has been built which includes one-on-one mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, industry networking and most importantly an expert career guidance, in order to provide learners a holistic support to elevate their careers to the next level.

The company has been awarded the ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in 2019. The company received the ‘Best Education Brands’ award by Economic Times and has made it to LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Startups’ two years in a row in 2018 and 2019. 💢💢