mit critical thinking course

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System Thinking

A five-week online course that will make you a better problem solver and improve the performance of your projects by teaching you to apply system thinking in technical environments.

Receive updates about this online course and download the week-by-week schedule.

BECOME A VITAL PART OF YOUR ORGANIZATION'S FUTURE

We are surrounded by systems. The products, processes, and projects that we work on are increasingly complex and interrelated systems. Organizations are calling on you, their technical professionals, to drive and optimize complex projects under high-pressure conditions.  

Through this online course, MIT faculty will teach you how to think of things as systems -- the process of understanding how entities influence one another within a whole. You’ll be able to then communicate that gaining insight and apply new methods, techniques, and vocabulary to your projects and processes. System thinking (or “systems thinking”) helps organizations examine complexity and simplify it; recognize patterns, and create effective solutions to challenges. Understanding and approaching problems from a systems perspective in technical environments is an essential skill for your career. 

October 7, 2024

IN THIS COURSE YOU WILL LEARN TO:

Apply systems thinking to improve the performance of your projects. Understand how systems thinking is used in diverse areas such as logistics & transportation, project management, and computation. Participate in a project management simulation to apply the concepts learned, and engage in activities to contextualize each concept. 

Understand the foundation of system thinking and the concepts of emergence, function, and performance.

Identify and describe the relationships among entities in systems applied to your own experience.

Identify how system thinking is applied in technical environments such as logistics & transportation, and computation.

Apply the systems dynamic method to understand complex processes.

Create models of systems based on networks and on dynamics.

Practice concepts from the course through a project management simulation.

MIT FACULTY & INSTRUCTORS

Edward F. Crawley

Ford Professor of Engineering, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT

John Sterman

Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Daniela Rus

Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Director CSAIL, MIT

Hamsa Balakrishnan

Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT

THE MIT XPRO LEARNING EXPERIENCE

We combine innovative pedagogy with MIT faculty from the School of Engineering and Sloan School of Management.

LEARN BY DOING

Practice system thinking through activities, reflection, and simulations to apply the concepts to your personal and professional systems.

LEARN FROM OTHERS

Connect with an international community of professionals while working on projects based on real-world examples.

LEARN ON DEMAND

Access all of the content online and watch videos on your schedule.

REFLECT AND APPLY

Bring your new skills to your organization, through examples from technical work environments and ample prompts for reflection.

DEMONSTRATE YOUR SUCCESS

Earn a Professional Certificate and 2.25 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from MIT.

LEARN FROM THE BEST

Gain insights from leading MIT faculty and industry experts.

Who Should Enroll

Technical professionals looking to advance their essential skills to improve the performance of their projects and processes.

Individual contributors who want to perform at their highest potential.

Managers intent on architecting successful, collaborative, and happy teams.

This course is especially relevant to project managers, product managers, and anyone working with complex, interrelated systems.

What Learners Are Saying

Dayanda Shenoy, Technical Lead at Thomson Reuters

“The course material is organized very well and intuitively. I can now visualize Systems in a different dimension and see different components and their importance. This learning will be positively contributing to the success of my next project as well as expanding my career prospects.”

Sumitra Rao, Director, Security Consultancy at Refinitiv

“I liked the self-reflection exercises as it helped me understand the concept and apply it on a system that I had chosen (...) I will definitely be applying these concepts in my organization to holistically design and deliver a system or any processes going forward and completely recommend this course to anyone wanting to enhance the way they look at analyzing the systems regardless of their complexity.”

Max Osborne, Engineering Manager, Product Development at Boeing Aerostructures Australia

“The MIT Systems Thinking course provided me with valuable insights, new language and concepts to apply to my job, and different ways of approaching engineering problems and managing projects.”

JUSTIFY YOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Many companies offer professional development benefits to their employees but sometimes starting the conversation is the hardest part of the process.

Use these talking points, stats, and email template to advocate for your professional development through MIT xPRO's System Thinking online professional certificate course.

Have questions about this course?

Critical Thinking

Jonathan Haber was an educational researcher, writer and entrepreneur working in the fields of critical-thinking education, assessment, and technology-enabled learning whose work has been featured in the New York Times , the Boston Globe , the Chronicle of Higher Education , and the Wall Street Journal . He is the author of another MIT Press Essential Knowledge book, MOOCs , and The Critical Voter .

How the concept of critical thinking emerged, how it has been defined, and how critical thinking skills can be taught.

Critical thinking is regularly cited as an essential twenty-first century skill, the key to success in school and work. Given our propensity to believe fake news, draw incorrect conclusions, and make decisions based on emotion rather than reason, it might even be said that critical thinking is vital to the survival of a democratic society. But what, exactly, is critical thinking? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Jonathan Haber explains how the concept of critical thinking emerged, how it has been defined, and how critical thinking skills can be taught and assessed.

Haber describes the term's origins in such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, and science. He examines the components of critical thinking, including structured thinking, language skills, background knowledge, and information literacy, along with such necessary intellectual traits as intellectual humility, empathy, and open-mindedness. He discusses how research has defined critical thinking, how elements of critical thinking have been taught for centuries, and how educators can teach critical thinking skills now.

Haber argues that the most important critical thinking issue today is that not enough people are doing enough of it. Fortunately, critical thinking can be taught, practiced, and evaluated. This book offers a guide for teachers, students, and aspiring critical thinkers everywhere, including advice for educational leaders and policy makers on how to make the teaching and learning of critical thinking an educational priority and practical reality.

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Critical Thinking By: Jonathan Haber https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.001.0001 ISBN (electronic): 9780262357340 Publisher: The MIT Press Published: 2020

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• [ Front Matter ] Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0011 Open the PDF Link PDF for [ Front Matter ] in another window
• Series Foreword By Bruce Tidor Bruce Tidor Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0001 Open the PDF Link PDF for Series Foreword in another window
• Preface Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0002 Open the PDF Link PDF for Preface in another window
• 1: The Genealogy of Critical Thinking Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0003 Open the PDF Link PDF for 1: The Genealogy of Critical Thinking in another window
• 2: Components of Critical Thinking Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0004 Open the PDF Link PDF for 2: Components of Critical Thinking in another window
• 3: Defining, Teaching, and Assessing Critical Thinking Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0005 Open the PDF Link PDF for 3: Defining, Teaching, and Assessing Critical Thinking in another window
• 4: Where Do We Go from Here? Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0006 Open the PDF Link PDF for 4: Where Do We Go from Here? in another window
• Glossary Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0007 Open the PDF Link PDF for Glossary in another window
• Notes Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0008 Open the PDF Link PDF for Notes in another window
• Additional Resources Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0009 Open the PDF Link PDF for Additional Resources in another window
• Index Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12081.003.0010 Open the PDF Link PDF for Index in another window
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• Innovation and Technology

What if innovation was about being productively wrong?

Upon hearing the word “innovating,” our minds are trained to hear or read that word and imagine end results awash with flash and grandeur: a revolutionary product launch; a cure for a centuries-old illness; pristine robots programmed to handle manufacturing operations. While these “end results” are undoubtedly impressive, they expose a flaw in our thinking about what “innovating” really means and how innovations are developed.

Innovations lack novelty as they emerge. They begin with resources that already exist. We only deem them innovations in hindsight, without regard for the active, nonlinear process—full of twists and turns, challenges and progress—that scales them up to real-world impact. The innovations we celebrate today are the end product of incredible effort, but also—or more importantly, as some may argue—of productive setbacks and persistence, all of which originate from a simple hunch.

The challenge is to scale it up.

With MIT Professional Education’s online course “Innovation and Technology” you will discover how to do so.

Large innovators that outperform their big-company peers put more money behind their innovation programs—1.4 times more as a percentage of sales*—and they get far greater payoffs: four times as much as a percentage of sales (+300).

Source: BCG (Boston Consulting Group)

Over the next 10 years, around 50% of the companies* currently on the Fortune 500 list will be replaced. The life expectancy of large companies is rapidly declining as startups enter the market at a rapid pace. Innovation helps these companies to remain relevant.

Source: Fortune

The number of companies reporting that innovation is among their organizations’ top three priorities.

An online course on how to do innovation and scale up from a hunch

Beginning with your initial hunch and the resources you already have; you will explore the systematic process of innovating. In doing so you will examine the role of critical thinking in innovating, design your own toolkit to solve real-world problems, and learn more about the benefits this framework can offer you and your organization.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COURSE SPECIFICS

The skills you will develop.

This course offers a fresh approach—a doer’s approach—to innovating. Aspiring innovators will explore how to turn their “hunches” into tangible, real-world problems by learning to envision the organizations that can solve them. You will discover the advantages of converting challenges into opportunities and acquire the necessary tools and techniques to work with parts and people to move forward in your innovating. Throughout this course, you will:

Delve into hunches:

what they look like and their central role in solving real-world problems.

Examine the solvable, recognizable, and verifiable attributes

of real-world problems in order to devise solutions for them.

Engage in a process of critical thinking

to prototype and scale up your problem.

Develop a kit for innovating, incorporating the strategies

and tools needed to transform hunches into real-world impact.

Work with strategies

for scoping out a space of opportunity.

Address significant problems with limited resources

by bringing them down to table scale.

Discover how to secure the tangible and non-tangible resources

needed to scale up your work.

Explore how to collect and use data and information appropriately

and to your advantage to write a final technology-problem report that advances your innovating.

In addition, you will receive a Certificate of Completion

All the participants who successfully complete the online course Innovation and Technology will receive an MIT Professional Education Certificate of Completion. Furthermore, participants will receive * MIT Continuing Education Units (CEUs)*.

To obtain CEUs, complete the accreditation confirmation, which is available at the end of the course. CEUs are calculated for each course based on the number of learning hours.

* The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is defined as 10 contact hours of ongoing learning to indicate the amount of time they have devoted to a non-credit/non-degree professional development program.

To understand whether or not these CEUs may be applied toward professional certification, licensing requirements, or other required training or continuing education hours, please consult your training department or licensing authority directly.

This course is directed to

Innovating is a cornerstone of business. In this cross-sectional course, professionals from any industry, business model, or position in an organization will benefit from the tools, skills, and knowledge on offer. This course is aimed at professionals with an enthusiasm for innovating, including:

• C-SUITE AND MANAGERS UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES in which innovation is central to success.
• ENTREPRENEURS OF TECH START-UPS with innovative aspirations.
• TECHNICAL EXPERTS with a strong interest in technology and innovation.
• PROFESSIONALS across all industries on the path to discovering how to truly innovate in their business operations.

All the enrolled participants will receive an exclusive copy of Dr. Luis Perez Breva’s e-book, “Innovating: A Doer’s Manifesto for Starting from a Hunch, Prototyping Problems, Scaling Up, and Learning to Be Productively Wrong.” This book is the perfect complement to your training: you will discover how to begin innovating based on a hunch, use the resources you already have at your disposal, and design an action plan to achieve your objectives.

Meet the instructors of this course

Listed in alphabetical order , dr. luis perez-breva.

MIT Faculty Director of Innovation Teams Enterprise (MIT Engineering and MIT Sloan) Innovator, Educator, Author, AI Problem Solver

“If you are hoping for a straight path to impact, innovating may appear daunting at first. You need a lot of information to trace changes at the outcome all the way back to the beginnings”

All the enrolled participants will receive an exclusive copy of Dr. Luis Perez Breva’s e-book, “Innovating: A Doer’s Manifesto for Starting from a Hunch, Prototyping Problems, Scaling Up, and Learning to Be Productively Wrong.”

Luis Perez-Breva, PhD is an innovator, entrepreneur, educator and the author of Innovating: A Doer’s Manifesto (The MIT Press, 2017). He is an MIT expert in technology innovation, venture labs, taking deep tech to impact, and applying artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems. He has enjoyed success with inventions and new companies in security, telecom, fintech, and genetics to name some. Chiefly among them is the AI-based system to locate 911 calls in case of emergency deployed worldwide. His work has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, BBC, Wharton Business Radio, Entrepreneur, Zdnet, Quartz, Epsilon Theory and several other national and international media.

Currently, Luis is the Faculty Director of Innovation Teams (iTeams),MIT’s flagship joint enterprise between MIT Engineering and MIT Sloan to put the Institute’s deep tech advances to work to solve real-world problems. Since 2007, through iTeams, he has helped nearly 200 MIT technologies find a path to impact leading to the formation of some 40 new, enduring deep tech companies across all industries from mining to telecommunications.

Luis has worked with venture capital and numerous corporations and adapted his work to develop innovation factories. Currently, Luis is developing a technology repurposing fund to rescue, recycle, and, in essence, turn around technologies analogous to how private equity seeks to turn around companies.

Dr. Perez-Breva holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from MIT and degrees in chemical engineering, physics, and business from leading universities in Spain (Institut Quimic de Sarrià), France (Ecole Normale Supérieure), and the United States (MIT). In 2011, the Spanish government recognized his career achievements by awarding him the Order of Civil Merit of the Kingdom of Spain. In 2020 Luis became an American citizen.

Discover the experience of our participants

Pradeep Sharma

Director at TTEC

It’s fascinating how detailed you can get in identifying a problem and building a solution based on a hunch. Identified some of the mistakes that I have done in life will help me in the future for sure.

Innovation and Technology online course

Managing director at Avalem Ltd

This exellent course is not a ‘follow the recipe’ technique, rather it is a structured way of mentally approaching and evaulating innovation. It equips you to think critically and creatively about the situation you perceive, to recognize and deal with innovation problems early on in the process, and to remove uncertainties. I found the framework presented to be valuable and thought-provoking, and is something I will definitely use in the future.

Are you ready to start your journey to innovative exploration?

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Mastering Design Thinking

Transform services and product development with design thinking

Get Your Brochure

June 6, 2024

3 months, online 6–8 hours per week

PROGRAM FEE

For your team.

Enroll your team and learn with your peers

Learn together with your colleagues

Participants report that enrolling in a program with colleagues fosters collaborative learning and amplifies their impact.

Please provide your details to get more information about the group-enrollment pricing.

The benefit of learning together with your friend is that you keep each other accountable and have meaningful discussions about what you're learning.

Congratulations!

Based on the information you provided, your team is eligible for a special discount, for Mastering Design Thinking starting on June 6, 2024 .

We’ve sent you an email with enrollment next steps. If you’re ready to enroll now, click the button below.

Develop Future-Ready Skills Today

Emeritus is collaborating with MIT Sloan Executive Education to help you build future-ready skills. Enroll before and get up to 8% tuition assistance along with a  complimentary  1-year Wall Street Journal subscription.

Application Details

Tuition assistance is live as per below schedule. The full program fee is $3300 as of the start date.

program fee

Why master design thinking.

Design thinking has emerged as a powerful methodology, revolutionizing how we tackle complex challenges, cultivate creativity, and engineer breakthrough solutions. The global market size was valued at US$7,404.29 million in 2022 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.38 percent during the forecast period, reaching US$11,352.7 million by 2028, as per a 2023 report by Industry Research Company.

Design-driven organizations, including Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Whirlpool, have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by an accumulated 211 percent in what's called the Design Value Index — a portfolio of 16 publicly traded organizations that integrate design thinking into their corporate strategy.

Developed by renowned MIT Sloan faculty, the Mastering Design Thinking program empowers participants to leverage the potential of design thinking with a focus on applied creativity to craft innovative solutions for improving an existing product or setting up a new product.

Who Is It For?

This program is for teams and individuals who want to learn a proven, systematic approach to new product development. Anyone responsible for driving innovation, growth, and the customer experience should attend, including functional and cross-functional teams.

Roles of past participants include professionals from creative, design, customer experience, engineering, innovation, product, R&D, strategy, and UX, such as:

• Product marketing managers, business analysts, marketing managers, growth managers, R&D managers, product heads
• Senior designers, UX researchers, UX designers, design engineers, creative managers, UX design consultants, art directors
• C-suite executives, including chief executive officers, chief operation officers, and chief strategy officers, managing directors, founders, presidents
• Innovation and growth consultants

Learning Journey

The program presents a meticulously curated learning journey, strategically designed to empower participants in leveraging its benefits without compromising their professional commitments.

Begin your design thinking learning journey with the essential knowledge and hands-on application of learnings from the program.

• Learn the concepts that drive design thinking
• Submit your project ideas around user innovations
• Identify customer needs and user groups
• Translate needs into product specifications
• Create a prototype
• Build out the product architecture
• Analyze the economics of the innovation
• Choose the right development process
• Present your final ideas and get real-time feedback

Program Experience

140+ Video Lectures

3 Live Teaching Sessions

3 Group Projects

10 Assignments

1 Capstone Project

6 Real-World Applications

Proven results

Program Topics

Seamlessly blending in-depth faculty sessions with group projects and assignments, this program fosters collaborative learning through peer interactions and a team-based capstone project, creating a lasting peer network of value beyond program completion.

Understand the critical design thinking skills needed to either improve an existing product or design a new product.

Learn to identify customer needs and draft customer needs statements as your first step towards user innovations.

Learn how to translate user needs into product specifications quantitatively, and how establishing product metrics can help to define those specifications.

Learn to apply creativity, brainstorming, and concept generation process in designing needs solutions.

Explore prototyping methods, strategies, and real-life examples where these have been applied to create a design that represents customer needs and product specifications.

Understand design of services, identify the potential for innovations within them, and learn how to apply product development frameworks to the service context.

Learn to use modular and integral product architectures in determining the building blocks of a product.

Learn to perform financial analysis of your project idea and decide if it is backed by a strong business rationale.

Learn how to apply design for environment principles to a product life cycle.

Learn to select and implement a product development process (staged, spiral, and agile) that's aligned to your project needs.

Capstone Project

The capstone project is the culmination of your Mastering Design Thinking program experience, enabling you to present an in-depth analysis of a proposed product or service. It enables you to apply design thinking principles, empowering you to address intricate business challenges with ingenious solutions. This project involves a comprehensive analysis of a proposed product or service. You will utilize the Real-Win-Worth it (RWW) screening process to ensure the solution's viability, environmental impact, and financial feasibility.

Top-performing teams will have the opportunity to present their projects to Professor Steven Eppinger, based on criteria such as the solution's innovation, presentation quality, and application of RWW metrics. This challenge will showcase your design thinking expertise and strategic capabilities, demonstrating your ability to craft innovative solutions that cater to genuine customer needs.

Case Studies

Learn how Apple has succeeded by designing products and services that address a key customer need: ease of use.

Review an example of a fully comprehensive prototype and test via the complex system of Boeing’s 787-9 twin engine commercial airplane.

Bank of America

Examine two innovations Bank of America developed based on customer needs regarding savings, and review their process for developing these service innovations.

Review Zipcar’s 11-step service experience cycle and how each step needed to be designed both from a customer and business perspective for this complex process to succeed.

Hewlett-Packard

Explore how Hewlett-Packard builds products on multiple platforms using modular architectures to satisfy different markets.

Study how Nespresso’s two cash flows—for machines and for coffee—affect its product development considerations, and learn about financial analysis for projects via an examination of its recycling program.

What Participants Say

"I truly believe that the program fulfilled my expectations and even exceeded them. I was a little skeptical about the online format, but I believe it provided full value for money, and I now feel equipped with cutting-edge knowledge in design thinking." — Lars Tamstrup Axelsson, Principal R&D Engineer, Ferrosan Medical Devices A/S

"The program offers rich content and a standardized process that effectively boosts the rate of innovation success." — Manoj Chatterjee, Cloud DevOps & Automation Lead, Shell

"I thoroughly loved the interactive networking sessions and collaborating with my team. I wanted a structured approach to design thinking with a technical edge and I believe that is what I got." — Rangena Hotaki, Founder/CEO, DesignOvation Strategies, LLC

"The program offers numerous innovative approaches to structured problem resolution through its highly applicable content." — Sergio Chavez, Principal Technical Data Management Consultant, Shell International

"The program consistently provided numerous exceptional real-world examples across every module, and was very product-centric." — Ryan Hall, Director of Innovation, Radius

"It was refreshing to learn new techniques and how to see products from my own perspective and from the perspective of the customer." — Jesus Perez, Product & Channel Coordinator, PSS

"The real-world examples and presentations by David Robertson offered relatable context that truly complemented our learning experience." — Othel Rolle, Technical Product Management, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

Steven Eppinger General Motors Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management; Professor of Management Science and Engineering Systems; Co-Director, System Design and Management Program Steven D. Eppinger served as deputy dean of MIT Sloan from 2004 to 2009, as faculty co-director of the Leaders for Global Operations (formerly MIT Leaders for Manufacturing) and the System Design and Management programs from 2001 to 2003... More info

Matthew Kressy Director and Founder, MIT Integrated Design and Management (IDM); Senior Lecturer at MIT; Principal, Designturn, Inc. Matthew S. Kressy, director and founder of the MIT Integrated Design and Management (IDM) master’s degree track, is an expert in product design and development. As an entrepreneur and founder of Designturn, he has designed, invented, engineered... More info

David Robertson Senior Lecturer at MIT David Robertson is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he teaches product development and digital product management. Prior to MIT, David was a professor of practice at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania... More info

Steven Eppinger General Motors Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management; Professor of Management Science and Engineering Systems; Co-Director, System Design and Management Program Steven D. Eppinger served as deputy dean of MIT Sloan from 2004 to 2009, as faculty co-director of the Leaders for Global Operations (formerly MIT Leaders for Manufacturing) and the System Design and Management programs from 2001 to 2003, and as co-director of the Center for Innovation in Product Development from 1999 to 2001. Steven's research efforts are applied to improving product design and development practices. Conducted within MIT’s Center for Innovation in Product Development, his work focuses on organizing complex design processes in order to accelerate industrial practices and has been applied primarily in the automotive, electronics, aerospace, and equipment industries. At MIT Sloan, Steven has created an interdisciplinary product development course in which graduate students from engineering, management, and industrial design programs collaborate to develop new products. He also teaches MIT’s executive courses in the area of product development.

Matthew Kressy Director and Founder, MIT Integrated Design and Management (IDM); Senior Lecturer at MIT; Principal, Designturn, Inc. Matthew S. Kressy, director and founder of the MIT Integrated Design and Management (IDM) master’s degree track, is an expert in product design and development. As an entrepreneur and founder of Designturn, he has designed, invented, engineered, and manufactured products for startups, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between. Matt believes in interdisciplinary, design-driven product development, derived from deep user research, creative concept generation, and rapid prototype iteration. He is passionate about teaching this approach in the design process.

David Robertson Senior Lecturer at MIT David Robertson is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he teaches product development and digital product management. Prior to MIT, David was a professor of practice at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2002 through to 2010, he was also the LEGO professor of innovation and technology management at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. David is the author of the award-winning book about LEGO’s near-bankruptcy and spectacular recovery, Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry (Crown, 2013). David has also held several executive management positions in enterprise software companies, and spent five years at McKinsey & Company in the U.S. and Sweden.

Certificate

Get a verified digital certificate of completion from MIT Sloan School of Management. This program also counts towards an MIT Sloan Executive Certificate .

After successful completion of the program, your verified digital certificate will be emailed to you, at no additional cost, in the name you used when registering for the program. All certificate images are for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to change at the discretion of MIT Sloan.

Learn new skills with your colleagues and get special enrollment. Discounts up to 20% are available. Learn more

How do I know if this program is right for me?

After reviewing the information on the program landing page, we recommend you submit the short form above to gain access to the program brochure, which includes more in-depth information. If you still have questions on whether this program is a good fit for you, please email [email protected], and a dedicated program advisor will follow-up with you very shortly.

Are there any prerequisites for this program?

Some programs do have prerequisites, particularly the more technical ones. This information will be noted on the program landing page, as well as in the program brochure. If you are uncertain about program prerequisites and your capabilities, please email us at the ID mentioned above.

Note that, unless otherwise stated on the program web page, all programs are taught in English and proficiency in English is required.

What is the typical class profile?

More than 50 percent of our participants are from outside the United States. Class profiles vary from one cohort to the next, but, generally, our online certificates draw a highly diverse audience in terms of professional experience, industry, and geography — leading to a very rich peer learning and networking experience.

What other dates will this program be offered in the future?

Check back to this program web page or email us to inquire if future program dates or the timeline for future offerings have been confirmed yet.

How much time is required each week?

Each program includes an estimated learner effort per week. This is referenced at the top of the program landing page under the Duration section, as well as in the program brochure, which you can obtain by submitting the short form at the top of this web page.

How will my time be spent?

We have designed this program to fit into your current working life as efficiently as possible. Time will be spent among a variety of activities including:

• Engaging with recorded video lectures from faculty
• Attending webinars and office hours, as per the specific program schedule
• Reading or engaging with examples of core topics
• Completing knowledge checks/quizzes and required activities
• Engaging in moderated discussion groups with your peers
• Completing your final project, if required

The program is designed to be highly interactive while also allowing time for self-reflection and to demonstrate an understanding of the core topics through various active learning exercises. Please email us if you need further clarification on program activities.

What is it like to learn online with the learning collaborator, Emeritus?

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• Courses for Individuals

Mastering Design Thinking

Strategy and Innovation

Certificate Credits

- Organizations & Leadership

- Strategy & Innovation

• Participants

Course Highlights

• This course runs over 3 months with an estimated 6-8 hours per week of study time
• This course is delivered in our Self-Paced Online format which enables you to participate at your own pace within weekly modules
• You will learn through a variety of formats including: interactive videos, practice quizzes, presentations, assignments, and discussion forums
• You will have access to a Success Adviser who will help you manage your time, and support you with any administrative or technical queries you might have
• You will earn a certificate of course completion from the MIT Sloan School of Management

Course Snapshot

Why attend Mastering Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a powerful approach to new product development that begins with understanding unmet customer needs. It’s a human-centered design process that approaches problem-solving with understanding the user needs. Design thinking encompasses concept development, applied creativity, prototyping, and experimentation. When design thinking approaches are applied to business, the success rate for innovation has been seen to improve substantially.

Design-driven companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Whirlpool have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by an accumulated 211% in what's called the Design Value Index—a portfolio of 16 publicly traded companies that integrate design thinking into corporate strategy. According to a 2016 report from the Design Management Institute, this marks the third consecutive year the index has shown an excess of 200% over the S&P 500.

The Mastering Design Thinking program will lead participants through a step by step, design thinking process. To be considered successful, innovations have to solve the three key dimensions of Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability.

Desirability: Is this product or service addressing a real customer need? Feasibility: Can we develop a solution that is technically feasible and better than competitors? Viability: Is there a viable business model around this product or service?

Learn more about the self-paced online experience.

Learn more about Emeritus technical requirements . 

Applying to the Course Enrollment for this course is done through the Emeritus website.  You can begin the application process by using the red Enroll Now bar at the bottom of the screen and clicking on the “Go to Emeritus Site” button.

Upon successful completion of your course, you will earn a certificate of completion from the MIT Sloan School of Management. This course may also count toward MIT Sloan Executive Certificate requirements.

Upon completion of this program, you will be able to:

• Understand the design thinking process.
• Identify and assess opportunities through customer needs analysis.
• Create clear product specifications based on customer needs that are desirable, feasible, and viable.
• Generate and evaluate new product and service concepts through applied creativity.
• Implement a proven 4-step method for planning and executing a prototype.
• Design services for enriched customer experiences.
• Create and establish a robust product architecture.
• Evaluate the economics of product development.
• Design products and services with sustainability in mind.
• Plan and manage innovation projects effectively.

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By: MIT xPRO on December 14th, 2022 6 Minute Read

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These Online Courses Will Make You a Better Thinker in 2023

Online Education | Professional Development | Leadership | Engineering | Systems Thinking

It’s time to dispel the myth that online courses are only suitable for learning hard skills. 

MIT xPRO offers many online courses that help professionals from all backgrounds become better thinkers. And according to the MIT instructors who teach these courses, there are clear advantages to learning specific frameworks online. 

Here’s an overview of MIT xPRO’s system thinking, critical thinking, and systems engineering offerings, including insights from instructors on how you can benefit from these courses. 

System Thinking

This five-week online course will make you a better problem-solver and improve the performance of your projects by teaching you to apply system thinking in technical environments. 

Benefits of becoming a better thinker through a system thinking framework 

“Our world is changing ever faster, from the prosaic—how we use our phones—to the profound—how our greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate,” explains John Sterman , lead instructor for MITx PRO’s System Thinking course. 

He explains that most of the changes we now struggle to comprehend arise as consequences (often unintended) of our own actions. “Well-intentioned efforts to solve pressing problems often fail, and all too often, our best efforts to solve a problem actually make it worse,” he says. 

“To improve, many advocate that we become ‘systems thinkers’—that we develop our ability to understand that ‘you can’t do just one thing’ and that ‘everything is connected to everything else,’” continues Professor Sterman. “The challenge is moving from slogans to useful tools and processes that can lead to sustained benefits for our organizations, companies, economy, and society.”

MIT’s approach to systems thinking aims to do just that. 

Benefits of learning system thinking frameworks online 

Professor Sterman notes that there are multiple ways for people to develop their capacity for systems thinking, including in-person and online instruction. 

“People learn best from experience and experiment,” he says. “But in complex systems, from a new aircraft to a company to the economy as a whole, experiments are often too costly, unethical, or simply impossible, and experience often comes too late to help.” 

He suggests that just as pilots learn to fly a new aircraft in a simulator before taking the real aircraft up in the air, “people can learn in management flight simulators in which they can try their own strategies, run experiments, and thus develop their systems thinking capabilities while designing strategies for greater success.” 

This learning can occur effectively in both in-person and online formats. “The key,” Professor Sterman says, “is receiving timely, informative feedback on the likely consequences of your decisions—something management flight simulators provide.”

Learn more about MIT xPRO’s online System Thinking course .  

Critical Thinking and Decision Making

This three-week online course for technical professionals explores what it means to think about thinking and empowers you to solve problems at work and in everyday life. 

Benefits of becoming a better thinker through a critical thinking framework 

According to Dan Frey , lead instructor for MITx PRO’s Critical Thinking and Decision Making course, the single greatest benefit of strengthening one’s critical thinking skills is improved resistance to “self-sealing.” 

“Chris Argyris—a great critical thinker himself—explained that many high-performing professionals fall into a pattern of behavior in which they find it difficult or impossible to recognize the limits of their own ability,” says Professor Frey. 

“The best safeguard I know against that trap is the ability to identify the theories that drive our own actions and put them to the test. You should constantly expose your own theories to data and reasoned evaluation. If you have the skills to do that, you will learn and improve over your entire life.” 

Benefits of learning critical thinking frameworks online 

"Both in-person and online instruction can be a great way to enhance critical thinking," says Professor Frey. "Given that online resources have become so convenient and cost-effective, it would be a mistake to rule out the newer modalities. Ideally, learners use both—each one for the purposes for which it is best adapted." 

As a commercial pilot who spent thousands of hours in flight simulators and thousands more in real aircraft, Professor Frey has learned that "if it's possible to improve a skill in the simulator, you may as well do that and save the jet fuel. Of course, you also need to log some actual stick time, but that phase will be most effective if you prepare yourself properly beforehand." 

The way he sees it, one thing flying a plane and critical thinking have in common is that there are multiple ways to learn each, and restricting yourself to only one is old-fashioned. He made up a great "dad joke" to further illustrate this point, but you'll have to ask him about it yourself!

Learn more about MIT xPRO’s online Critical Thinking and Decision Making course . 

Architecture and Systems Engineering: Models and Methods to Manage Complex Systems

This award-winning four-course program explores state-of-the-art practices in systems engineering. Courses include:  Architecture of Complex Systems, Models in Engineering, Model-Based Systems Engineering: Documentation and Analysis, and Quantitative Methods in Systems Engineering.

Benefits of becoming a better thinker through a systems engineering framework 

One significant benefit of improving one’s thinking through a systems engineering framework is learning to address disruption, notes Bruce Cameron , lead instructor for MIT xPRO’s systems engineering program.

“Many industries are undergoing disruption today. Traditional automotive is being disrupted by electrical vehicle technology, home appliances are being disrupted by smart home vendors,” he lists. He explains that this disruption comes from architectural change and new technology progression. 

“In MIT xPRO’s systems engineering program, we teach a structured framework to first identify architectures and then to model potential changes, so learners can explore potential responses and opportunities.”

Dr. Cameron points out that systems engineers are encouraged to build their own tools and processes. But many inherit tools and processes without a crisp explanation of the principles behind them. “The intent of these courses is to teach the principles and to look at the latest tools through a constructive lens to answer questions like, ‘When should we pick this tool?’ and ‘How could we pull these tools together? ’”

Benefits of learning systems engineering frameworks online 

Dr. Cameron explains that MIT xPRO’s online systems engineering program—like all MIT xPRO courses—was designed for professionals and, therefore, specifically curated to fit around their work schedules. Rather than having to attend a lecture at 9 a.m., learners have the flexibility to consume the materials on their own time. 

But that’s not the only major benefit. “Online, we have so much more collaboration and workflow available to us!” Dr. Cameron exclaims. “For instance, we run polls at many points in the course, such as ‘How much time do you think should be devoted to concept exploration?’ Everyone gets to benchmark against the rest of the participants’ data in the poll, which is not easily done in a traditional on-campus course.” 

Extensive networking is another notable perk of online learning. “You get to network with a much broader group of people in these global courses,” says Dr. Cameron, “from Rimac engineers in Croatia to Whirlpool designers in China to Microsoft product managers in Seattle.”

Learn more about MIT xPRO’s Architecture and Systems Engineering: Models and Methods to Manage Complex Systems course .

Explore MIT xPRO’s Course Catalog 

If you’ve considered taking an online course, why not make 2023 the year you prioritize professional development? MIT xPRO offers many online courses designed to help professionals improve their thinking and perform at their highest potential. 

Check out our course catalog, and see which offering speaks to you . 

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4. Algorithm for Isothermal Reactor Design *

• Algorithm for Isothermal Reactor Design
• Applications/Examples of CRE Algorithm
• Reversible Reactions
• ODE (Polymath) Solutions to CRE Problems
• General Guidelines for California Problems
• Engineering Analysis
• Measures Other Than Conversion

Part 1: Mole Balances in Terms of Conversion

French Menu Analogy                                           

Here is a short movie about the use of the CSTR in the Senior Chemical Engineering Lab at the University of Michigan. You will need Quicktime to view these movies.

This Powerpoint Presentation details the reaction being carried out in the movie.

Example: The elementary liquid phase reaction

is carried out isothermally in a CSTR. Pure A enters at a volumetric flow rate of 25 dm 3 /s and at a concentration of 0.2 mol/dm 3 .

What CSTR volume is necessary to achieve a 90% conversion when k = 10 dm 3 /(mol*s)?

Here are some links to example problems. You could also use these problems as self tests.

The following movies were made by the students of Professor Alan Lane's chemical reaction engineering class at the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa

Solve for X = 0.9

Applying the algorithm to the above reaction occurring in a Batch, CSTR, and PFR.

To determine the conversion or reactor volume for reversible reactions, one must first calculate the maximum conversion that can be achieved at the isothermal reaction temperature, which is the equilibrium conversion. (See Example 3-8 in the text for additional coverage of equilibrium conversion in isothermal reactor design.)

Equilibrium Conversion, X e

From Appendix C:

Example: Determine X e for a PFR with no pressure drop, P = P 0

Given that the system is gas phase and isothermal, determine the reactor volume when X = 0.8 X e .

First calculate X e :

X = 0.8X e = 0.711

Equations Plot of X vs. V Results in Tabular Form

A volume of 94 dm 3 (rounding up from slightly more than 93 dm 3 ) appears to be our answer.

Every state has an examination engineers must pass to become a registered professional engineer.  In the past there have typically been six problems in a three hour segment of the California Professional Engineers Exam. Consequently one should be able to work each problem in 30 minutes or less. Many of these problems involve an intermediate calculation to determine the final answer.

Some Hints:

Note: Pressure drop does NOT affect liquid phase reactions

Sample Question:

Analyze the following second order gas phase reaction that occurs isothermally in a PBR: 

                                                                Mole Balance

Must use the differential form of the mole balance to separate variables Rate Law

Need to find (P/P 0 ) as a function of W (or V if you have a PFR). Pressure Drop in Packed Bed Reactors

Could now solve for X given W, or for W given X.

For gas phase reactions, as the pressure drop increases, the concentration decreases, resulting in a decreased rate of reaction, hence a lower conversion when compared to a reactor without a pressure drop. 

Here are some links to example problems dealing with packed bed reactors. You could also use these problems as self tests.

Mole Balance

Stoichiometry

       Gas with T = T 0

POLYMATH will combine everything - You do not need the combine step. Thank you POLYMATH

Optimum Paritcle Diameter

ρ 0 = P 0 (MW)/RT 0

Increasing the particle diameter descreases the pressure drop and increases the rate and conversion.

However, there is a competing effect. The specific reaction rate decreases as the particle size increases, therefore so deos the conversion.

The larger the particle, the more time it takes the reactant to get in and out of the catalyst particle. For a given catalyst weight, there is a greater external surgace area for smaller particles than larger particles. Therefore, there are more entry ways into the catalyst particle.

In CD-ROM chapter 12, we will learn that effectiveness factor decreases as the particle size increases  

We want to learn how the various parameters (particle diameter, porosity, etc.) affect the pressure drop and hence conversion. We need to know how to respond to "What if" questions, such as:

"If we double the particle size, decrease the porosity by a factor of 3, and double the pipe size, what will happen to D P and X?" (See Critical Thinking in Preface page xx.  e.g., Questions the probe consenquences)

To answer these questions we need to see how a varies with these parameters.  

Turbulent Flow                                    

Compare Case 1 and Case 2:

For example, Case 1 might be our current situation and Case 2 might be the parameters we want to change to.

Laminar Flow

Here are more links to example problems dealing with packed bed reactors. Again, you could also use these problems as self tests.

Part 2: Measures Other Than Conversion

Uses:    

A. Membrane reactors B. Multiple reaction

Liquids: Use concentrations, I.E. C A

There are two equations, two unknowns, C A and C B

Gases: Use Molar Flow Rates, I.E. F I

Use Polymath to plot F A and F B down the length of the reactor.

Microreactors

For isothermal microreactors, we use the same equations as a PFR as long as the flow is not laminar. If the flow is laminar, we must use the techniques discussed in chapter 13. See example 4.8 of the text.

Membrane reactors can be used to achieve conversions greater than the original equilibrium value. These higher conversions are the result of Le Chatelier's Principle; you can remove one of the reaction products and drive the reaction to the right. To accomplish this, a membrane that is permeable to that reaction product, but is impermeable to all other species, is placed around the reacting mixture.

Example : The following reaction is to be carried out isothermally in a membrane reactor with no pressure drop. The membrane is permeable to Product C, but it is impermeable to all other species.

For membrane reactors, we cannot use conversion. We have to work in terms of the molar flow rates F A , F B , F C .               

Polymath Program

Here are links to example problems dealing with membrane reactors. You could also use these problems as self tests.

The reactant that starts in the reactor is always the limiting reactant.

Three Forms of the Mole Balance Applied to Semibatch Reactors:

Use the algorithm to solve the remainder of the problem.

Example: Elementary Irreversible Reaction

Consider the following irreversible elementary reaction:

-r A = kC A C B

The combined mole balance, rate law, and stoichiometry may be written in terms of number of moles, conversion, and/or concentration:

Polymath Equations:

Polymath Screenshots:

Equilibrium Conversion in Semibatch Reactors with Reversible Reactions

Consider the following reversible reaction:

Everything is the same as for the irreversible case, except for the rate law:

See Also: 

* All chapter references are for the 4th Edition of the text Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering .