Udacity, a Silicon Valley-based online university, has launched a nanodegree for aspiring self-driving car engineers, with HERE signing up to be a hiring partner for the graduates. According to a recent article in Forbes, HERE is one of the top 10 creators of self-driving car jobs.

“As a global mapping and location company, we’re excited to see Udacity teach people highly relevant skills that will usher in a new transportation era.” said Sanjay Sood, head of Highly Automated Driving at HERE. “We’re looking forward to applicants who have experience in building technologies that enable self-driving vehicles through Udacity’s nanodegree.”

As a hiring partner for the program, HERE is joined by 13 other companies in the field including Mercedes-Benz and BMW. By partnering with industry leaders, Udacity is helping to provide their students with job opportunities in technologies that are fuelling the biggest change in the transportation industry since the invention of the car.

Why mapping is critical for automated cars

Our HD Live Map is designed to help car manufacturers make autonomous vehicles a reality. A machine-readable map helps automated cars “see around corners” improving safety by providing the car with information unavailable through cameras, LIDAR or radar sensors.

Additionally, pooling the data together from millions of connected cars, HERE will create a self-healing map that will update constantly and share live information with drivers and self-driving cars alike.

Our highly automated driving team is hiring around the world including Chicago, which reportedly ranks No. 2 in self-driving car jobs in the U.S.

Head over to our Careers site to browse open positions at HERE around the world.