Georgia Tech-Savannah kicks off a new series of professional development offerings next month with a four-day course that promises to give techies the know-how to create a mobile app and sell it in app stores.
“The mobile space is changing quickly on both the business and professional side,” said Russell Clark, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Computer Science and director of its Research Network Operations Center.
“A few years ago, in order to launch a mobile app, you had to sell it to a mobile carrier to include in its offerings. Now you can sign up for a developer account this afternoon and submit your app to the store by this weekend.”
Based on the standing-room-only response to Clark’s talk on mobile app development at the first of Tech’s Savannah Speaker Series last month, the upcoming December course, which is limited to 20 students, is expected to fill up fast – even at the hefty price tag of just under $2,200.
“Plenty of courses cover the tools you need to build an app, but this course brings programming, startup experience and industry connections together to help students turn ideas into viable products that are ready to launch,” he said.
The course, which is set for Dec. 8-11, is based on a popular undergraduate sequence that fills up every semester on Tech’s Atlanta campus, Clark said. It will combine technical skills with business smarts and is geared to the entrepreneurial mindset.
“Students will learn what’s next in mobile devices, apps and tablets and have the opportunity to try their hand at a project of their own,” he said. “They will also learn how to load it into the app store and make money.”
Designed for professionals, programmers and self-taught tinkerers, the course will teach the basics of iOS and Swift, Apple’s newest programming language. It also will cover new opportunities in wearable technology, in-car apps, mobile wallet, home automation and location-based apps, Clark said, adding that Georgia Tech has been working with wearable apps for some time.
“In fact, one of the key Google Glass designers was a Georgia Tech professor, and our Atlanta campus was one of the first in the world to take student-designed campus maps and bus schedules and make them an official app for Google Glass.”
ABOUT THE COURSE
Mobile Development and Innovation
WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dec. 8-11
WHERE: Georgia Tech-Savannah campus, Dates: ec. 8
CEUs: 2.6
COST: $2,195
MATERIALS: Access to Apple computers, iOS devices and developer accounts will be provided.
ON THE WEB: www.pe.gatech.edu/mobile-apps