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This specialization is designed for students and engineers who want to gain skills in analyzing, modeling, and designing high-performance DC-DC, AC-DC, and DC-DC switching power converter control loops. Over five courses, you will learn average switch modeling and simulation techniques, design-oriented analysis techniques, input filter design, peak- and average-current control techniques, and modeling and control of single-phase power factor-corrected rectifiers and inverters for photovoltaic power systems. Applied learning project Students will begin designing and testing their own high-efficiency closed-loop DC-DC converters, AC power factor correction rectifiers, and DC/AC PV inverters using the included Spice simulation examples. The final course in the specialization includes a project in which students design and test control loops on a complete 5 kW PV system, including a maximum power point tracking boost converter and a single-phase grid-tied inverter.

The Real-Time Embedded Systems specialization is a series of four courses that will take you from a beginner practitioner to a more advanced real-time systems analyst and designer. Knowledge and experience gained in difficult topics such as predictable service response, hardware/software requirements allocation, and mission-critical design will enhance your engineering talent. You will gain experience creating a simple but realistic real-time systems design, which will increase your confidence. The project's practical, home-grown hardware is readily available, widely available, and its rapid-to-market methods leverage Linux real-time extensions, an open-source RTOS (Real-Time Operating System), and tried-and-true cyclic control techniques. After completing all four courses in this series, you will be able to consider yourself an intermediate to advanced real-time systems specialist. This knowledge is invaluable for medical, aerospace, transportation, energy, digital entertainment, telecommunications, and other interesting career options in embedded systems. The series emphasizes hands-on work and assessment of learning progress, not only through knowledge gained, but also through learning to apply theory to practice, evaluate design options, and make optimal decisions. A unique final project will allow you to see problems in real time with your own eyes, conduct interactive debugging, and build a simple home detection, tracking, and synchronization system. Applied learning project The project work includes a series of exercises in real-time processing and parallelism, along with the analysis and design of the first two courses. The third course provides experience with critical components such as error-correcting code memory, flash file systems, and redundant hardware. In the final course, you will combine all the practical exercises into your own project to build a real-time system that you can test at home. The project covers topics such as parallelism, Linux kernel modules, machine vision, coprocessors, and correct handling of timing constraints. You will use Linux-specific real-time extensions and compare the advantages and disadvantages of Linux with more traditional RTOS, loopback, and FPGA options. The experience you gain can be used to further explore hybrid FPGA systems (e.g. Altera and Xilinx), GP-GPUs (e.g. NVIDIA), and multi-core scalable processors (e.g. ARM A and R-Series), as well as MCU scaling solutions (ARM M-Series microprocessors).

This course can also be credited toward ECEA 5348, which is part of the CU Boulder Electrical Engineering Master of Science (MES) program. Designing M2M and IoT Interfaces and Protocols is the third of three courses in the Embedded Interface Design (EID) specialization, an online version of the face-to-face EID course taught in the Embedded Systems Engineering Master of Science (MSE). This course focuses on connecting devices to each other and to the cloud to create prototypes and real-world systems that transfer data from devices to consumers. The course includes an introduction to Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) concepts, using the cloud to develop IoT systems (specifically AWS and its IoT framework), an overview of common communication protocols at each tier of connected devices, and other IoT design topics such as security, message queuing approaches, API use and design, and microservices. The course content ranges from general design best practices to the specifics of individual tools and techniques, but all are presented to support the development of embedded devices in IoT applications. The course includes hands-on projects that will allow you to try out some standard software development techniques for prototyping graphical user interfaces for devices using AWS, Python, and optionally Node.JS. This course can be credited toward ECEA 5348, part of the CU Boulder Electrical Engineering Master of Science program.

This course on the context of international business provides an overview of the conditions in which international business has existed in the past and how it functions today. First, the theory and history of international trade are briefly outlined, as well as the place of business in world trade. Then, the parallel topic of globalization and its impact on international business is considered. Then, the varied political, economic, and ethical conditions in which international business must operate are discussed. Finally, current international trade agreements and national trade laws and regulations are presented. Without an understanding of the context of international business, international business managers and leaders will indeed have a hard time succeeding.

In this course, students develop a deep understanding of how national cultures shape international HRM, international marketing, and international business in general. The course provides an overview of international culture, human resource management (HRM), and marketing. This may seem like an unusual combination of topics, but successful international HRM and marketing are heavily dependent on national culture. Without an understanding of a nation’s culture, managing and selling to that nation is fraught with problems. In the first module, we look at the many determinants of national culture, as well as the dimensions or characteristics of national culture. In the next module, we look at the various organizational structures appropriate for international business, and then turn to the HR challenges associated with a diverse international workforce. In the final two modules, we explore the many challenges of international marketing across countries and cultures.

This course examines and evaluates the many ways in which businesses can engage in international trade. It first introduces the three decisions any business must make to enter an international market, including the country selection model. Next, exporting and importing modes are discussed, followed by contractual entry modes such as licensing and franchising, and then foreign direct investment strategies such as joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. The course concludes with a personal look at entering an international market, including deciding to enter, preparing for entry, working and living abroad, and the challenges of returning home.

The International Business specialization is designed for those who would like to gain a deep understanding of the concepts, tools, and applications of international business. This knowledge can be used to advance in your current job, to prepare for international work and careers, and to gain a general understanding of the importance and role of international business practice in a globalized and geopolitical environment. The specialization covers the global context of business, national cultures, human resources, marketing, supply chain logistics, foreign exchange, and market entry - all within the context of international business and commerce. Along the way, there are numerous lectures, examples, cases, readings, and tools that can be used to better understand international business practice. The specialization highlights the differences between domestic and international business, with a particular focus on the risks and mistakes that are all too easy to make when working abroad. Upon completion of the specialization, students will have a broad understanding of the breadth and scope of international business and a solid foundation for developing their careers and interests. Applied learning project Upon successful completion of this specialization, students will be fully prepared to discuss and address management issues relevant to contemporary international and domestic business. Students will gain a broad understanding of the context of international business; HRM and marketing; SCM, logistics, finance and accounting; and working abroad.

This specialization is designed for those who want to learn Microsoft Excel from a beginner to expert level. The first two courses teach students the basics of Excel through dozens of instructional videos and a series of in-app quizzes and challenges. Finally, in Part 3 (Projects), students complete several “real-world,” somewhat open-ended but guided projects. Projects focuses on the dynamic array features introduced in Office 365 that have revolutionized the way calculations are performed in worksheets. Applied learning project In Part 3 (Projects), students select three warm-up projects (from five potential projects), three intermediate projects (from six potential projects), and three main projects (from five potential projects). This allows students to tailor their experience through their choice of projects. Screencasts with prompts and previews for each project are provided.

I am a mental health professor, researcher, and educator who has been working in the field for over 15 years. However, like many of my colleagues, I was unprepared for the wave of mental health challenges our society would face in 2020. From COVID-19 and the pandemic’s devastating economic impacts to racial justice protests and large-scale natural disasters, our current cultural moment poses unprecedented mental health challenges, especially for marginalized communities. For this reason, I led a field-wide call to action on mental health research and treatment, which resulted in this #TalkMentalIllness course. I had the opportunity to speak with over 30 experts from across the fields of psychological research, practice, and popular public figures to discuss the causes and latest treatments for many serious disorders, the stigma surrounding mental illness in our culture, systemic inequities in mental health treatment, and the mental health challenges of today. #talkmentalillness combines interviews from the Mental Health Experts series into an accessible learning resource to help you have conversations about mental health. Talking about mental illness is both the content and the desired outcome of this course, as you’ll use what you learn from my interviews with mental health experts to guide your own discussions about mental health issues and treatments with family, friends, coworkers, and others in your life. The course will begin by introducing a core set of definitions of mental illness and examining the stigma associated with it. We’ll then apply these topics to specific mental health disorders, including anxiety and mood disorders, eating disorders, suicide, substance use, and psychosis. We’ll then look at how these issues disproportionately impact marginalized groups and communities of color. We’ll conclude with a look at innovative approaches to psychological treatment and how the pursuit and science of happiness impact mental health and well-being. This course is part of a larger educational mission to bring scientific knowledge about mental illness to students and the public, both locally and globally. I designed and created it in collaboration with the Office of Academic Innovation and the Media Services Group at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries. - June Gruber

Care workers are occasionally lauded as “heroes” of society, but the special challenges they face are not fully understood. This course examines how the organization of care has changed in modern times and the dilemmas those developments pose to helping professionals. Among the questions it engages are: How does the meaning of care change when it is performed outside the family? Do bureaucratic systems discourage individuals from taking responsibility for others' suffering? How do care professionals manage their emotions and those of their clients? Can and should care work be rehumanized? In addition to helping learners develop informed responses to these pressing issues, The Challenges of Modern Caregiving will give students the chance to learn a method that identifies gaps in existing care systems.

Caring for Others examines how society cares for its at-risk members and the experiences of its caregivers. This specialization addresses questions such as: How much suffering is in the world today? Does digital media sensitize/desensitize us to the anguish of distant others? What are the different types of paid care work? How do care workers manage their emotions? And much more. This specialization is relevant to individuals interested in becoming a helping professional as well as anyone hoping to improve and better understand the human condition. This specialization may be completed for nursing continuing professional development contact hours. The University of Colorado College of Nursing is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the Colorado Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. This offering for a maximum of 37.5 contact hours is provided by the University of Colorado College of Nursing Office of Continuing Education. Each course provides 12.5 contact hours. If you are an educator, you are eligible to receive 2 teacher education university credits from the University of Colorado Boulder. A portion of the proceeds from this specialization will be used to create paid internships for CU Boulder students pursuing careers in the helping professions. Applied learning project Learners will complete 3 short reflection papers throughout this specialization that are tailored to their own interests and/or professional goals. Learners are invited to explore several controversies within care work and the helping professions, including how digital media may desensitize suffering, issues surrounding humanitarian aid, re-humanizing care work, and other topics.

This second course in statistical modeling will introduce students to the study of analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and experimental design. ANOVA and ANCOVA, presented as a type of linear regression model, will provide the mathematical foundation for designing experiments for data science applications. Particular attention will be paid to important design concepts such as randomization, blocking, factorial design, and causal inference. Some attention will also be paid to ethical issues that arise when conducting experiments. This course can be taken for credit toward CU Boulder's Master of Science in Data Science (MS-DS) program, offered on Coursera. The MS-DS is an interdisciplinary degree that includes faculty from CU Boulder's Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Science, and other departments. The MS-DS is a learning outcomes-based, no-application program that is ideal for individuals with a broad educational background and/or professional experience in computer science, information science, mathematics, and statistics. Learn more about the MS-DS program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-of-science-data-science-boulder. Logo adapted from a photo by Vincent Ledvina on Unsplash