11-29-17
Research and Awards,
About a year ago the University of Missouri College of Engineering was awarded a five year, $12 million contract to deliver a complete data science education program for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). This program is providing state of the art analytical training for the NGA workforce. The program is tailored specifically to meet educational and training needs identified by the NGA.
The program is a collaboration between the MU Informatics Institute’s Data Science and Analytics online master’s degree program (DSA) and the Center for Geospatial Intelligence (CGI) (part of MU College of Engineering). Mizzou is providing a comprehensive data science education program which encompasses databases, programming, statistical analyses, predictive modeling, data visualization and data mining, cloud-based computing, and machine learning. Other specialties are also included as needed to provide assistance developing the NGA and Intelligence Community workforce.
MU faculty members who hold appropriate security clearances and have data science expertise teach at NGA locations in St. Louis and Washington DC. This facilitates a process through which government participants may earn graduate credit at MU for all program courses. Thus, NGA and other intelligence community workforce participants have an option to earn a graduate certificate in data science and a master’s degree from the University of Missouri.
“We are excited to teach the NGA workforce our philosophy of data science as a collaborative, iterative lifecycle spanning data acquisition through interpretation and delivery of data-driven intelligence,” said Grant Scott, director of the DSA program and assistant research professor in the MU Center for Geospatial Intelligence. “We have developed a state-of-the-art approach to data science education built upon cutting-edge technologies, best-practices in adult-learning pedagogies, and repeatable collaborative science.” (MU News Bureau, MU Engineering, 9/6/16).
The United States government has partnered with the University of Missouri for state of the art training for some of its most important intelligence employees. This speaks volumes about the quality of instruction and research going on at Mizzou. To learn more about this contract and all parties involved, check out the article from 9/6/16 from the MU Engineering Program within the MU News Bureau.