2011-2012 University Catalog 
  
2011-2012 University Catalog

Intelligent Agents Graduate Certificate


Banner Code: VS-CERG-INAG

School:  Volgenau School of Engineering 

Department:  Computer Science 

This certificate concentrates on the theory and practice of designing and developing systems that rely on knowledge and reasoning, generically called intelligent agents: expert systems, knowledge-based systems, knowledge-based decision support systems, expert database systems, intelligent tutoring systems, and so on. Capturing, using, preserving, transferring, and sharing knowledge is of critical importance to any organization as society evolves from an information society to a knowledge society. Therefore, the ability to design and develop intelligent agents for a wide variety of domains is becoming a highly valuable expertise. The courses in this certificate program cover the basics of knowledge engineering and intelligent agents, as well as advanced research topics. Basic topics include knowledge representation, knowledge acquisition, heuristic search, problem solving and planning, uncertainty reasoning, machine learning, natural language processing, design of expert systems, human computer interaction, data mining, knowledge discovery, and knowledge management. Advanced topics include the development of multiagent systems, mixed-initiative intelligent systems, web-based intelligent agents, and distributed ontologies.

Admission Requirements

The program is open to all students who are eligible for entrance into the master’s degree program in computer science or any scientific or engineering discipline at Mason.

Certificate Requirements


Students must complete the following courses for a total of 12 credits:

Required (3 credits):


Note:


One of the three courses may be taken from another MS or PhD program in the Volgenau School with advisor approval, provided it belongs to the certificate area.

Total: 12 credits