Events that include:

The ways in which chemicals or drugs are administered have gained increasing attention in the past two decades. Normally, a chemical is administered in a high dose at a given time only to have to repeat that dose several hours or days later. This is not economical and sometimes results in damaging side effects. As a consequence, increasing attention has been focused on methods of giving drugs continually for prolonged time periods and in a controlled fashion. The primary method of accomplishing this controlled release has been through incorporating the chemicals within polymers. This technology now spans many fields and includes pharmaceutical, food and agricultural applications, pesticides, cosmetics, and household products.

In the pharmaceutical field, in addition to the importance of polymers, an understanding of the physiological barriers in the human body is also critical to developing appropriate controlled release systems. The skin, the gastrointestinal tract, the nose and the eye are of particular importance. Finally, recent advances in genetic engineering have spawned numerous new polypeptide agents and DNA and siRNA. Approaches for delivering and stabilizing these molecules will be discussed.

The lectures, in morning and afternoon sessions, will be presented by faculty members at MIT and other universities who are leaders in the topics to be covered. The lectures are intended to review the recent advances in the art and science of controlled release technology and to assess the prospects and directions of future developments. The program is designed for chemists, chemical engineers, pharmaceutical scientists, and technical managers with an interest in controlled release technology. Scientists in other fields such as food, agricultural, etc., may also benefit from this course.

This course aims to teach a suite of algorithms and concepts to a diverse set of participants interested in the general concept of fitting data to models. It starts with mostly simple linear algebra and computational methods, and introduces some more difficult mathematical concepts towards the end. This method also, by design, fits in with our approach of morning lectures and afternoon practice on personal computers. The combined teaching system provides opportunities for much hands-on learning and participants leave the course with practical knowledge of the basic algorithms.

The course is very broad and is primarily intended to cover the fundamentals of each technique we address. Consequently, the major gain is that we can cover many different approaches. Think of it this way: we cover the first chapter or two of a specialized "book" on a given method. We therefore get you through the many fundamentals, which then allow you to dig further through the book on your own. Another way of thinking of our approach is the analogy of a carpenter?s tools?the goal is for participants to understand the utility of each tool and not to become specialists in any one method. In that sense the course is introductory and general. The course taps into material from a very wide selection of literature in many disciplines involving computation, including but not limited to: statistics and applied mathematics, science, engineering, medicine and biomedicine, computer science, geosciences, system engineering, economics, insurance, finance, business, and aerospace engineering. More specific areas in which you might come across relevant books are: Regression, non-linear regression, linear and non-linear parameter estimation, inversion, system identification, econometrics, biometrics, etc. The diversity of the past participants and their fields has always provided many perspectives on our common interest in data and models. Please note that we do not specifically cover non-parametric statistics, principal component analysis, or Big Data.

Who Should Attend: Anyone who fits data to models. This course is truly broad-based and participants from vastly differing fields are envisioned and encouraged to attend. Some of these fields are engineering, business, natural sciences, geoscience, medicine, statistics, and economics. Familiarity with computing and statistics is desirable. A fair background in linear algebra is highly recommended. The course is a condensed version of a regular MIT class with the same title, taught by Professor Morgan. The course has also been given at NASA, the University of the West Indies in Barbados, Sakarya University in Turkey, Stanford University, University of Science and Technology of China,the Cyprus Institute, and Texas A&M University.

Insanely successful companies, like Apple, Virgin, Toyota, and others, innovate continuously because of their culture of design-thinking. When done right, this thinking links inspiration and passion to execution and delivery—positively affecting every facet of the product and service.

For you to be successful at work, you need to know how to think like a designer when approaching an engineering task alone, but you especially need design-thinking skills when working within a team or leading a team. By applying a design-centered approach you’ll be able to conceive of radically innovative solutions, deeply understand who your real stakeholders are and what they care about, create vision that gets buy-in from senior management and colleagues, avoid hazards, and create solutions that people love both emotionally and intellectually.

Using a 10-step design process and a 3-step vision creation and communication process, you’ll experience the design process first hand in this interactive class that will expand your thinking and help you and your teams create more powerful solutions. You’ll learn how to create materials that align technical and non-technical audiences, understand the vital importance of the psychology behind how people interact with technology, how to manage creativity, and how to assess the effectiveness of your solutions.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course is targeted for design engineers, research engineers, project engineers or managers, product engineers, members of the technical staff, applied scientists, and research scientists. The course would also be of interest to those who supervise early career professionals and those in academia (e.g. engineering and science graduate students, and post-docs).

Born out of the MIT Media Lab, people analytics, using behavioral data to understand and manage organizations, has fundamentally changed how companies operate. This course will provide participants with a foundation in people analytics through discussion and hands-on exercises with real world data and tools. There are basic questions that have an impact on businesses that no one can answer. How much does the executive team communicate with engineering? Is a manager really spending time with their team? How often should a salesperson speak with a customer? The reason we can?t answer these questions is a lack of data. Surveys and consultants are useful, but their shortcomings are evident. They?re slow, subjective, and don?t actually measure what happens in the real world. New data has changed this equation. We are constantly generating data about our behavior: e-mail, IMs, calendar data, and increasingly sensor data about the real world. This is people analytics: using behavioral data about how people work to change how companies are managed. In this course, we?ll first investigate what data we have at our disposal now and in the near future. We?ll also discover what behavioral metrics really matter and how can you communicate these metrics to other stakeholders. Next, we?ll focus on how these new metrics and data streams can rapidly increase the speed and quality of decision making. Similar to A/B testing in the online space, now we can A/B test how businesses are managed. Compensation, IT systems, real estate decisions, and even org charts can now be rapidly deployed and quantitatively tested by combining behavioral data and key performance indicators (KPIs). We?ll discuss examples from Fortune 500 companies that have successfully used people analytics to improve their organizations, as well as how they are transitioning to an A/B testing decision making culture.

Effective communication abilities are often among the very top desired skills that employers look for and value. How have our communication practices and needs changed in the digital age? This course focuses on four specific areas: public speaking, critical thinking, visual persuasion, and audience adaptation. The program will address each of these areas in a three-step process: First, we will identify the specific skills a successful advocate requires. Second, we will answer the question, ?What specific challenges has the advent of the digital age brought about?? Third, we will engage in workshop activities that allow program participants to put into practice the principles we have discussed.

Some organizations achieve such exceptional levels of performance?time to market, quality, safety, affordability, reliability, dependability and adaptability?that it puts their rivals to shame. Though few in overall number, they exist in manufacturing, high tech, heavy industry, product design and production, and services, such as health care delivery. The select few are capable of generating and sustaining such high-velocity, broad-based, relentless improvement and innovation, that they achieve unparalleled levels of excellence. Learn what drives the success of these companies.

The Learning Experience

Creating High Velocity Organizations employs several teaching techniques: presentations, case discussions, video dramatizations, and an in-class simulation emphasizing a participatory style to maximize the opportunities for "learning by doing." The program material is organized into thematic modules designed around the four key principles of building the discovery capability in an organization?smart work design, creative problem solving, continuous knowledge sharing, and developing of discovery skills among employees. Each module consists of several sessions, which demonstrate, first, the positive impact through successful application of those key principles, and then provides examples of negative results when those principles were clearly needed but not applied. Each session is punctuated by facilitated small-group exercises, in which participants can actively apply the ideas and examples offered in class to their own specific, real-life situations.

Assignment Required Before Arrival

This program will provide multiple opportunities for participants to explore their own processes. Participants should come prepared to work on an important challenge in their organization.

This program will enable participants to:

• Create an organization where work is done by harnessing the best-known approaches available and signaling the need for new knowledge.
• Solve problems as they arise and to develop new understanding that prevents the problems from recurring.
• Multiply the impact of local discoveries by making them useful systemically throughout the organization.
• Lead an organization where discovery is encouraged, supported, and promoted at all times. 

The MIT Edge

Traditional business-school curricula tend to focus on teaching decision-making skills as a way to success. However, many companies today?especially those in relatively new industries?find themselves lacking the information or the experience needed to make the decisions that could determine their future. That is where the leaders' ability not only to think, but also to behave like innovators, becomes vital to the success of the organization. Known for its commitment to innovation, with this program MIT Sloan offers a rare opportunity for participants to learn how to channel their curiosity into innovators' behavior.

GEA is an eight-day management and leadership program for experienced executives across the globe. The program is taught in English and materials are translated into multiple languages, with UN-style simultaneous interpretation offered for executives who prefer to participate in their native language.

Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish languages are typically offered, provided there are at least 10 paid participants in each language. Other languages will also be considered. Please register early so we can ensure your language is offered. If we are unable to offer your preferred language, you may choose to participate in another language or request a full refund.

The program includes access to a large number of our world-class MIT Sloan faculty teaching a broad range of topics including: leadership, strategy, innovation, systems thinking, marketing (branding), communications, negotiations and finance.

• Big picture understanding of the global economic environment including responses to international conflict and the resulting impact it can have on your business and local economy
• Familiarization with MIT?s 4 Capabilities Leadership Model and a template for charting your own organization?s strengths and opportunities for improvement
• A clearer vision of your personal brand, your company?s value proposition and ways to strengthen your competitive position
• Ideas on how to innovate and insights on how to lead organization-wide innovation
• Financial tools and acumen critical for executive-level decision making
• Negotiating techniques and multi-cultural negotiating experience
• An expanded network of talented, worldly executives from a variety of industries and countries, and the diverse perspectives they?ll share with you over your two week journey with us
• New insights, skills and frameworks that you can immediately apply to your business when you return home
• An Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from MIT Sloan Executive Education and a 20% discount on any future programs

Global Executive Academy is geared toward experienced executives looking to advance or refresh their leadership capabilities and global perspective. Many people choose to participate in English. For those who are more comfortable participating in their local language, we offer translated materials and simultaneous interpretation into select languages.* The content and experience applies to:

• Senior executives from small and mid-sized organizations around the world
• Mid- to senior-level executives from large, multinational organizations
• High-potential technical or business leaders looking to advance their general business acumen or gain international experience
• Leaders seeking a condensed, global program as a substitute for or refresher to an International MBA
• The 2016 cohort included participants from 16 different countries, spanning 16 industries and a variety of executive leadership functions from general management to finance & planning, engineering, business development, customer service, HR, legal, marketing, procurement and more.

Language Requirements
Global Executive Academy is offered in English with simultaneous interpretation into Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish (provided there are at least 10 paid participants in each language; other languages may also be considered). Most pre-readings and written classroom materials are translated into the target language. Supplemental readings are offered in English only. The program is primarily designed for international executives and leaders with a basic working knowledge of English who prefer to experience the program and actively participate in their native language. Participants should be able to speak with high proficiency in either English or one of the interpreted languages.

All email inquiries as well as the pre-program administrative processes will require the use of English, so please plan accordingly when completing these steps:

• Application form
• Customer service inquiries
• Follow-up communications regarding acceptance, payment, and visa issues

Application and Payment Requirements
To register for Global Executive Academy, please submit an online application. Standard cancellation and deferral policies will apply to this amount.

U.S. Entry Requirements
It is the participant's responsibility to understand and comply with the entry requirements for travel to the United States. Please note that some citizens are required to hold a Machine Readable Passport or visa in order to enter the United States. Visit the U.S. Department of State website, or contact your local embassy or consulate, to determine the requirements based on your country of origin. If you require a visa invitation letter, please email us at execacademy@mit.edu as soon as possible after your non-refundable deposit has been made, and we will provide you with the letter.

Participants who successfully complete the entire program earn an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership.

For questions, contact execacademy@mit.edu.

While people have always been critical to the success of organizations, many business leaders still make key decisions about their workforce based on intuition, experience, advice, and guesswork. However, today?s leaders can improve their people decision-making based on the collection and systematic analysis of data.

Leading People at Work: Strategies for Talent Analytics focuses on the strategies that can be used to successfully design and implement people analytics in an organization. Faculty draw on the latest practices and research to illustrate how leading companies are using cutting-edge techniques to analyze data about their employees to and make their organizations and their individual employees more successful. In doing so, we will explore areas where talent analytics are most effective, and where it is particularly important to incorporate them. Participants of this program will gain a deeper understanding of how and when people analytics can be applied to improve critical issues such as recruiting and hiring, performance evaluation, promotion and training, compensation, and organizational change.

The program takes the perspective of the general manager when examining how emerging big data analytical approaches applied to human resource management can be used to advance business objectives. By the end of this course, participants will understand how and when big data can be used to make key employee decisions, enabling executives to position themselves as a strategic partner in their company?s talent management.

This course is not intended to teach statistics or programming. Nor will this course cover the issues involved when gathering (and analyzing) data. Instead, it is intended to acquaint participants with key strategies for the design and implementation of people analytics in an organization.

The goal of this course is to prepare executives to wisely collect and use data to manage people at work. Participants of this program will:

• Become familiar with the most relevant topics general managers face concerning the management of people.
• Learn a set of frameworks and theoretical models to help make key employee decisions.
• Be exposed to some of the most cutting-edge techniques used by companies to analyze data about their employees in order to make their organizations and their individual employees more successful.
• Understand how to apply big data analytics to identify, evaluate, and resolve a variety of challenges and issues relating to their workforce.
• Learn how to interpret and present the results of their analyses to make strategic people-related decision. (This course is not intended to teach statistics or programming.)

By learning about strategies for talent analytics, participants will not only advance their company's business objectives through the strategic management of people, but also their own career.