EPP Project Courses
Project
Courses are interdisciplinary problem-solving projects in which students
work as leaders or members of project teams. Problem areas are abstracted
from local, state, and national situations and involve the interaction
of technology and public policy, with different projects being chosen
each semester. Oral and written presentations concerning the results
of project studies are prepared.
Spring
2002
The project “The Medium of
Wireless: An analysis of spectrum measurement, demand, and policy”
explored the topic of radio frequency (RF) spectrum allocation. Measurements
at two Pittsburgh locations were taken over a one-month period. The
demand for new wireless services was projected through 2007. Interference
likely to be created by this demand was evaluated. A case study of the
unlicensed PCS band led to recommendations for future FCC actions. Faculty
included Jon Peha (ECE/EPP) and Marvin Sirbu (EPP/ECE/IA). Manages were
EPP doctoral students Bill Strauss and Anupam Banerjee.
The second project was titled “Evaluating
the Environmental Effectiveness of Recycling in Pittsburgh.” A
comprehensive assessment of Pittsburgh’s solid waste recycling
program was performed, including: an historical overview; budgetary
analysis; assessment of public perceptions; life-cycle environmental
impact analysis; and, comparison to commercial recycling in order to
determine the efficacy of the Pittsburgh recycle program. Faculty included
David Keith (EPP) and Allen Robinson (MechE/EPP). Managers were EPP
doctoral students Joseph DeCarolis and Hisham Zerriffi.
Fall
2002
“Assessing the Feasibility
of Underground Utilities in Pittsburgh” was the first of two projects.
Both beautification of the city and improved reliability of the utilities
could be achieved by placing the electric, telephone and cable wires
underground. A detailed study, using a generalizable method, was conducted
of the net benefit of undergrounding utilities in one neighborhood on
the South Side. The set of analyses was then used to develop policy
recommendations on how to coordinate and finance such a project at the
neighborhood and city levels. Faculty were Baruch Fischhoff (SDS/EPP)
and Edward Rubin (EPP/MechE). Managers were EPP doctoral students Sara
Eggers and Dalia Patino Echeverri.
In the second project “Implementing
Tissue Engineering: Financial and regulatory guidance,” students
designed practical tools and gathered important information to help
firms, researchers, and regulators cultivate new “living”
technologies for medical treatment of damaged tissues and organs. A
decision model was developed to formalize and extend the FDA’s
system for regulatory classification of tissue-engineered therapies,
which frequently combine biologic treatments with implantable devices.
Difficulties with product development were identified and a prototypical
web-based tool was designed to help developers navigate FDA requirements.
A survey to assess public opinion about tissue-engineered therapies
revealed wariness of potential risks to patients, with particular concern
about disruptions to the body’s hormonal functions. Faculty leaders
were Michael DeKay (Heinz/EPP) and Mitchell Small (CEE/EPP). Managers
were EPP doctoral students Chao Chen and Tiffany Tummino.
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EPP Tom Johnson Fellows
in Washington
Two
EPP undergraduates spent the summer of 2002 in Washington with support
from the department’s Tom Johnson Fellows program.
Andrew Bayowski, who received his
B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering/Engineering and Public Policy
in December 2002, worked at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center
for Device and Radiological Health. The internship project, titled “Balancing
consumer safety and industry innovation: An evaluation of FDA’s regulation
of biomedical devices” grew out of work he had done on campus with
Henry Piehler (EPP/MSE), his senior research project advisor.
Cheuk Lai (Charlie) Choi, now a senior
majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering/Engineering and Public
Policy, worked at the Consumer Energy Council of America on deregulation
in the electric utility industry. This project grew out of work being
done for the Council by Alex Farrell (formerly EPP, now ERG, UCB) and
Lester Lave (GSIA/EPP/Heinz). Choi also did background work for a possible
future Council effort focused on hydrogen-based energy systems.
A third EPP student, and 2001 Tom
Johnson Fellow, Lynna Quandt, was invited back by the FCC’s Office
of Plans and Policy for a second summer. Quandt is now a senior majoring
in Electrical and Computer Engineering/Engineering and Public Policy and
also a 5th-year Master student in Engineering and Public Policy.
Technology
and Policy
Program Growing in Portugal
Manuel
V. Heitor, who has long been active in international technology-policy
circles, has established a Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy
Research at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Center (referred to as IN+) offers M.Sc. degrees in “Engineering
Policy and Management of Technology” and in “Engineering Design.”
The instructional program draws on staff from across IST.
IN+ includes three main laboratories:
The Laboratory of Thermofluids, Combustion and Energy Systems; the Laboratory
of Environmental Systems; and the Laboratory of Technology Policy and
Management of Technology. In addition to basic research on energy and
environmental-related processes, the Center also undertakes interdisciplinary
research involving technology and policy, promoting ways in which industrial
development can proceed in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.
The Center’s activities “…are
multidisciplinary, linking basic and applied research to technology development,
and focused on the issues of sustainability, namely in terms of the needs
to promote socio-economic development, and to secure the quality of the
environment, together with the management of energy resources…”
Specific goals include: improving knowledge in advanced fields of strategic
technologies; developing and facilitating the use of advanced techniques
for the analysis, monitoring and control of processes at laboratory and
industrial scale, the latter including technology and risk assessment;
promoting the exchange of knowledge in advanced technologies including
the management of technology and innovation; and the development of a
variety of science and technology policies and innovation strategies.
Details on the Center and its programs
can be found at: http://in3.dem.ist.utl.pt/
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