Posted by Alumni from MIT
March 6, 2026
As a professional mechanical engineer, Badri Ratnam was inspired when MIT started offering massive open online courses (MOOCs) in engineering and science in 2012. He wondered if he was up to the challenge of solving problem sets and successfully completing exams from MIT. Ratnam first began his journey with the course 8.MReVx/8.MReV (Mechanics ReView), and he hasn't looked back since. As he grew in his career in mechanical design and computer-aided engineering, he also completed nearly 40 MITx courses in physics, mechanical engineering, and materials science. Ratnam has worked for companies such as Freudenberg e-Power Systems, Siemens, GE, and Westport Fuel Systems. His continued learning through MITx courses, as well as courses offered by other universities, has expanded his expertise to include areas such as physics, mechanics of materials, transport phenomena, failure and root cause analysis, validation and verification testing, vibration signal processing, certification and... learn more