Case Study: Georgia Institute of Technology achieves practical computer science education for 1,000+ engineering students each semester with MathWorks' MATLAB

More than 1,000 Georgia Tech Engineering Students Learn Computer Science Concepts Each Semester with MATLAB

The Georgia Institute of Technology needed a practical way to teach computer science fundamentals to engineering undergraduates after earlier approaches (Pseudocode, Scheme) left students unable to leverage built-in numerical and visualization tools. To address this gap, Georgia Tech partnered with MathWorks and adopted MATLAB (along with MathWorks toolboxes) as the foundation for a hands-on computing course.

MathWorks’ MATLAB was implemented as the core of CS1371—Computing for Engineers, taught with live coding and a MATLAB-based textbook covering procedural programming, applications (plots, images, numerical methods) and dynamic data structures. The result: the course now reaches more than 1,000 students each semester, is required and a prerequisite for advanced classes, and has measurably improved students’ readiness to tackle sophisticated, visualization-driven engineering projects while driving continued use of MathWorks tools across the curriculum.

Georgia Institute of Technology

James Craig

Professor of Aerospace Engineering