With more than 42,000 students, Politecnico di Milano is the largest technical university in Italy. The university was recently ranked number one in Italy and placed in the top 10 in Europe and in the top 50 in the world in six research areas, including computer science and information systems, civil and structural engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, and mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering.
Recently, Politecnico di Milano has been exploring online courses and other ways to promote student learning outside the lecture hall. Among the university’s most popular online offerings is a series of courses on MATLAB®. These courses enable students to develop computational and analytical software skills on their own so that professors can focus valuable in-class time on core curriculum material.
“Many of our courses—from the first-year calculus courses at the bachelor’s level to the most advanced courses at the doctoral level—use MATLAB for simulation, laboratory work, and numerical analysis,” says Prof. Paolo Biscari, dean of the PhD School at Politecnico di Milano. “Last year, we had more than 15,000 active MATLAB users, and our students participated in more than 1000 online training sessions, which reflects how important MATLAB is to our professors and students.”