Constructor Academy

I decided to attend Propulsion Academy in the winter of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. I chose this boot camp because of its location in Zurich, and because they seemed to screen the applicants well before accepting them into the program. I... Read More had been looking for a position as a data engineer in Zurich for most of 2020 without much success., After completing Propulsion I was able to land a job through Propulsion’s professional network. I have a background working in the data industry, and I have a master’s degree in Information Science. I was hesitant to join the program because of my background, but I ended up learning so much and I came out of the program as a better engineer. This course is for you if you have a background in a science or engineering related field. My cohort was a group of 12, and everyone had a graduate degree from a diverse range of backgrounds. The bootcamp consists of a lot of collaborative group projects, and since our backgrounds were so different, everyone solved problems with a different perspective. Collaborative group projects were one of my favorite parts about this program -- it was such a confidence booster and skill building exercise. (Nothing like college group projects :-) The coursework itself is very demanding, and you will not have time to do much else. Due to the pandemic, our classes were 100% online; everyone was disappointed about this, but you know, that kind of sums up 2020. All things considered, I really enjoyed the online format. I have taken a lot of online college classes and was never a fan, but Propulsion managed to keep all of us engaged through active participation during lectures and interesting slides. I felt like I got to know my peers and instructors personally, despite never meeting them in person. At the end of the course there is a 3 week capstone project that is often in collaboration with an organization. It was really cool to see how much the class had learned in the last 12 weeks. I would absolutely recommend Propulsion Data Science to anyone with the appropriate background. You will come out with more technical skills, a better ability to perform technical interviews, and the opportunity to become involved in Zurich’s data technology professional network.

Being already in the field of data analytics, I took this course since was keen on deepening my understanding in applied data science and related best practices. The course is definitely an intense unique experience composed of applied knowledge, exercises... Read More and group challenges. The learning-by-doing approach allows you to develop a solid skill set in a short time. Furthermore I appreciated the opportunity to learn from experts in the field about best practices and trends, especially in the constantly evolving field of deep learning! Additional sessions were provided to either cover related topics such as ethics in data science, or where experienced data scientists shared their career journey with us, returning a broad context of the data scientist role in different industries. Finally, this course is also a great chance to build a local professional network in data science and software engineering.

I took part in the Propulsion Academy data science Bootcamp from May to July 2020. It was worth every penny. I cannot recommend enough for any person looking to upskill or take the first steps toward a data science career to contact the propulsion team.... Read More What I liked most is the team. They simply do care about you and your learning and career objectives. It is a complementary team with strong industry expertise which you can sense at every interaction. The curriculum is up to date and does not focus on the buzz words but rather on building expertise bottom-up from the foundations to the latest applications. To my surprise, my favorite module was Stats as it helped us ask the right questions, design the right experiences and use the adequate tools for the problems at hand and believe me the solution is not always machine or deep learning. Last but not least is the end-of-program project done in collaboration with a company that guarantees real-world application and tons of fun, stress, and a steep learning curve. A word about my cohort which was just a fantastic gender-equal group of students eager to learn, collaborate and share. The Bootcamp selection process definitely works. Proud of those that made it to Google or eBay but also of those contemplating the entrepreneurial path. Best,

Python as an object-oriented programming language is a huge benefit to all companies around the globe. By attending a part-time online course attendees get an overview how powerful the Python can be. The instructors at Propulsion Academy made it very... Read More easy - even for non programmers like me - to understand the basic and advances techniques of Python. What I missed at other institutions Propulsion Academy made the difference. Even before the course started we got information how to install the IDE and the instructors were personal available to help. During the weeks of the course they provided help out of the course timetable to ask questions and to get familiar with the different course topics. What i like most is the familiar atmosphere, even if the course took place online. If you think to dig into Python, consider to have a look at their webpage for next course dates!

Propulsion Academy helped me launch a new career as a software engineer in Switzerland. I learned skills at Propulsion that helped me to impress my employer during my interview and land my dream job. In addition to practical coding skills I also gained... Read More a valuable local professional network.

Curriculum - The curriculum is absolutely top notch. If you're looking to ramp up with python oops , flask web dev ,SQL and data science concepts then I would definitely recommend the program. Instructors - The instructors Thorben Croisé and Marie Bocher... Read More are very knowledgeable and approachable at the same time. Community - Great supportive community. Great amount of support and feedback from your instructors and peers.

Prior to attending Propulsion's bootcamp, I already had the opportunity to gain experience in the tech space due to my work as an IT consultant with focus on product management of tech teams. However, what I always found challenging in creating really... Read More good products for users was to apply data-driven product management. In this regard, Propulsion's Data Science Bootcamp has exceeded my expectations. Thanks to the bootcamp and extremely qualified instructors, I can now develop the right products for the right customers in a much more targeted way using machine learning and deep learning algorithms. The data has always been there, but now - thanks to Propulsion - I'm equipped with the right skill-set to use it in a more meaningful way, which has been a really exciting journey for me so far.

There are so many details packed into the 2 months course work. Please note that one full month is spared for capstone project. This is very good because it is real experience with the business. The support provided from the school is very good. If the... Read More student encounter any problem, the teacher assistant from the school always be there to help solving the problem. During the 2 months’ course work, the exercise covers very wide aspect of data science. The solutions provided really explained everything. Due to very limited time, there is no time to explain all the solutions. There is also no spare time to go over the solution later during weekend either. Because the course is packed and always have to move on. Even though it seems to be too much to absorb in 2 months. To get the most out of this course, the student must prepare to invest 100% of their time, no additional work or study. The professor are excellence. They know their topic very well in debt. The teacher assistants are very nice very knowledgeable. For any question that they do not know the results, they help to find solution until the problem is fully solved. The documentation are very good. Please also note that all are provided on line. No paper or document are given. In conclusion, the results of this course is 100% more than expectation. It worth the money and time invested. The results of self-study and a lot of self-practice through exercises is working. From the one who have no basic of computer programming, I can write python by heart after the course is finished.

My time at propulsion academy was a truly unique experience. The curriculum was very robust and engaging. I was able to learn all the aspects of Full-Stack software development from turning an idea into a fully-fledged and functional application. The... Read More program is very demanding as you learn about the most relevant and in-demand technologies, then transition into using them to create real-world applications. The Propulsion team and their group of talented instructors provided my peers and I all the support and tools we needed to grow. With my team's capstone project and Propulsion Academy network of tech companies, I was able to land an interview during the bootcamp which eventually turned into a full-time role as a software developer at a start-up just two weeks after graduation.

Basic Python/Statistics: Fairly fast pace so having at least some prior knowledge will definetly help to give you an easier start. However some students in my class did not have prior knowledge but still managed to do it (with a little additional work).... Read More Numpy/Pandas: Very insightful and slower pace compared to the previous block. Machine Learning: Great blance between basic concepts, pitfalls and practical application. Neural Networks/Computer Vision: Insightful and a comprehensive overview of developments in the field (Grad-CAM, Bayesian NN, Transfer Learning, Augmentation etc.). However, I personally did not enjoy tensorflow2 all that much and switched to PyTorch after the class. Neural Networks/NLP: Good overview of a complex field. Final Project: Propulsion receives many real-world projects from different companies which is great for students looking to find a job. However, you might be assigned to a project that you're not super interested in (even though they obviously try to cater to your interests). If you happen to have any data to work on that really interests you, you can also work on one of your own projects during this time. I brought data that required a lot of domain knowledge in medicine, and while I therefore wasn't able to receive the helpful feedback from the instructors that other students got, working on a project during a short time frame, with a non-medical but very tech-savy classmate and then presenting it to a non-technical audience was a really important experience. Overall, I highly recommend it! Always 1 instructor + 2 teching assistants in the room and a lot of smart/driven students from different backgrounds.