Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) is a unique department in the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University which addresses important problems
in technology and policy in which the technical details are of central importance. The department offers a research-oriented Ph.D. program and double-major undergraduate B.S. programs with each of the five traditional engineering departments and Computer Science.

Research in the department focuses on problems in:

  • energy and environmental systems
  • information and communication technology policy
  • risk analysis and communication; and
  • technology policy and management (including technological innovation
    and R&D policy).

Across these four focal areas we also study issues in engineered systems and domestic security, issues in technology and organizations and issues in technology and economic development (focusing in particular on Brazil, China, India, and Mexico). We frequently undertake the development of new software tools for the support of policy analysis and research.

News & Event Highlights

Recent EPP PhD graduate Constantine Samaras placed second in the Student Poster Competition at the Gordon Research Conference on Industrial Ecology for his poster, entitled: "Transforming the automotive fleet and the electricity system: A life cycle assessment of plug-in hybrid vehicles and electricity sector infrastructure."


EPP PhD Leonardo Reyes-Gonzalez and EPP Professor Francisco Veloso's paper "Evaluation of Mexican Research Groups in Physics using an Endogenous Approach" has won the Early Career Paper Competition in the 2008 Europe-Latin America Conference on Science and Innovation Policy.


Carnegie Mellon University and EPP Professor Jon Peha are lead organizers of the "Broadband Census for America," a half-day conference about universal broadband data that will take place on September 26, 2008 in the AAAS Building in Washington DC (home of EPP's Washington Office). The aim of the conference is to assemble state, local and federal officials engaged in gathering and mapping information about broadband availability, competition, speeds, prices and quality of service. Academic researchers will lend their perspective on the importance of universal broadband data.


EPP PhD graduate Jana Milford (EPP, 1988) has been promoted to the rank of full Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Colorado.


History, EPP, and Heinz School Professor
Joel Tarr is the winner of this year's
Leonardo da Vinci Medal
from the Society for the History of Technology. Carnegie Mellon is the only university to have two recipients of this prestigious award on faculty, as last year's winner was History and EPP professor David Hounshell.


created by Kenny Teng