This seminar explores the prospects for “reverse engineering” infant and early childhood cognition over the first three years of life. Our goal is to lay the foundations for a computational account of what children know and how they come to know it, expressed in the language of contemporary engineering approaches to intelligence. Specifically, we study computational accounts of early-emerging core knowledge systems, such as core intuitive physics, psychology, sociology, space and number, as well as computational accounts of the learning mechanisms that extend, enrich and transform these core systems as children grow over the first years of life. We also discuss related research from cognitive neuroscience and comparative studies of cognition in non-human species. Students play an active leadership role in the class proceedings, taking responsibility for selecting readings and presenting key points for discussion on a topic of interest. Instead of a traditional paper or project final assignment, students are expected to contribute significantly to a joint class-wide project: a web-based wiki proposal for a roadmap of cognitive development expressed in engineering terms.