Exponentials: Epidemics, Cryptography, Forest Fires, AI
Develop an intuition for the power of exponential growth by investigating examples as diverse as Ponzi schemes, spread of forest fires, length of passwords and cryptography, virus multiplication, AI and the singularity.
Starts
15 April 2020
Time
On Days
Fee (₹, incl taxes)
Audience
About the Course
The SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic's exponential growth has already changed the world we live in. It took 67 days to reach 100,000 cases; the next 100,000 cases took just 11 days, and the third 100,000 cases took 4 days. Most of us find it hard to appreciate and predict such a rapid rate of growth at the initial stages, because it is intuitively difficult to understand the power of the exponential.
But exponential growth isn't limited to just viruses. We can find it everywhere in life. This is the same reason why a student studying less than an hour a day for a very long time is often far more successful than a student studying 16-hours per day just before the exams. This is also the reason why compound interest over a long time on small savings will result in a fortune.
This course will help students develop an intuition for the power of exponential growth by investigating examples as diverse as Ponzi schemes, spread of forest fires, length of passwords and cryptography, virus multiplication, AI and the singularity.
In the final part of the course, students will learn about different techniques to slow exponential growth (or ‘bend the curve’) - for example, how one can slow down the spread of a virus.
Learn more about our expert course facilitator, Navin Kabra, here.
About our Facilitator:
Rachit is an electronics engineer who has been designing analog circuits for the past decade. His work experience includes Cosmic Circuits and Cadence Design Systems (which acquired Cosmic Circuits), on the design of integrated circuits for audio codecs, serial interfaces, and phase locked loops amongst other things. He likes to spend his time on reading, understanding audio, building speakers, music, and sports.
Rachit has a Masters degree from the Centre For Electronic Design And Technology at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
Muralidhar (aka Murali) is senior mentor and course designer at GenWise with 20+ years of experience in the social sector. In addition to delivering Vocational Training to young adults, he is currently responsible for design, manufacturing and marketing operations at a traditional handicraft (wooden toys) enterprise near Bengaluru. Murali has also delivered training and professional development programs for secondary science teachers and 'making' skills to "gifted students" for around 4 years.
Murali has a bachelor's degree in Engineering from IIT Madras.