Engineering and Public Policy Graduate Program

Joint M.S. programs may impose additional requirements.

Core Course Requirement
The principal component of the EPP core curriculum is a sequence of courses on perspectives and tools for policy analysis: 19-701, -702, and -704. Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis (19-701) is a lecture and discussion course that reviews and critically examines a set of basic problems, assumptions, and analytical techniques that are common to research and policy analysis in technology and public policy. The objective is to look critically at the strengths, limitations and underlying assumptions of key policy research and analysis tools and problem framing and sensitize students to some of the critical issues of taste, professional responsibility, ethics and values that are associated with policy analysis and research. Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis (19-702) is a course that provides a broad introduction to analytical and computational methods commonly used to address technical policy issues. Particular emphasis is placed on methods for decision analysis such as benefit-cost analysis, Bayesian methods, Monte Carlo simulation, and multi-objective analysis. A large component of the course is learning how to build a spreadsheet and software-based models for policy analysis. Applied Data Analysis (19-704) is a course that will cover several statistical procedures, including multiple regression with interactions, logistic regression, signal detection analysis, principal components analysis, factor analysis, and possibly other techniques, with an emphasis on hands-on data analysis.

An additional, optional course offered in the policy sequence is Workshop in Applied Policy Analysis (19-705). The course is designed to provide experience in setting up, analyzing, and writing about policy problems of the type that are used in the Part B qualifying exam (described below). Over the course of the semester, the class works through six or seven policy case problems. Much of the work is done in small groups. The principal focus is on integrating the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the problems and on identifying and practicing general problem-solving strategies.

Another optional course that will be offered each Spring is Survey Design and Analysis (19-703) and counts as a Type B elective. The course will cover measurement, reliability, and validity for surveys; experimental and quasi-experimental design; sampling; survey construction and administration; and estimation and hypothesis testing for means, proportions, correlations, and simple regression.

All students will take either 19-701 or 19-702 in their first semester, depending on year of entry, and will take 19-704 in their second semester. They may also take 19-703 in their second semester, if they choose to, as this course is optional. Then in their third semester, they will take 19-701 or 19-702, again depending on their year of entry, and 19-705 (though 19-705 remains optional, virtually all of our students take it to prepare for the qualifying exams). This will allow them to be finished with core courses by the time they take their qualifying exams in the beginning of their fourth semester.

One of the Teaching Practicum options, EPP Project Management (19-752) involves serving as a manager for a student group project course in Engineering and Public Policy. The students taking the project course include undergraduate double major engineering students in EPP, undergraduate policy majors in Social and Decision Sciences, and Master's-level students in the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. This course allows the development of research and project management skills, and involves considerable interaction with both students and outside experts who serve as consultants and reviewers for the project. Managers are expected to assist faculty in preparation for the course prior to the beginning of the semester.

The other Teaching Practicum option, Introduction to EPP (19-753) involves conducting recitations for the Department's freshman course. This opportunity is somewhat limited; typically there are two positions available in Spring semesters when the course is taught. Duties including assisting the course instructor in preparing content prior to the start of the semester, administering the course website, preparing and grading homework and test questions, attending lectures, meeting weekly with the course instructor to plan recitation sessions, conducting recitation sessions, assisting in assigning grades, and being available outside of class to assist students and answer questions.

Students are expected to fill their teaching practicum requirement by the end of their third year in the Department.

Type A Requirement
All students are required to complete a first-year graduate course in applied probability and statistics. Currently, the recommended course to meet this requirement is Probability and Estimation Methods for Engineering Systems (12-704). An additional approved course in mathematics or probability and statistics is also required.

To meet the remaining 36 units in the requirement, students choose from a large group of graduate technical courses in areas such as engineering, science, applied mathematics, and statistics. There are two motivations for this requirement. First, before one can extend the perspectives and tools of engineering, one must develop a firm notion of what these perspectives and tools really are. Second, the technical dimensions of the policy problems that are addressed by students pursuing graduate studies in EPP cannot be treated as a "black box." EPP graduate students must develop the skills to deal with the technical aspects of these problems. It is intended that students develop a level of mastery in their technical area of focus similar to that obtained in a traditional program of graduate study in that area.

Type B Requirement
All students must take a graduate-level course in applied microeconomics (currently 90-908). A minimum of two additional social science electives are required. Several courses in quantitative research methods in the social sciences are available. Courses in political science and social processes are also encouraged, and it is intended that students will develop a healthy sense of cultural relativism, a notion of the way in which values and social organizations shape our thinking, and an understanding of the way in which these factors have changed and can change with time. Such notions are difficult to characterize in quantitative terms, but are fundamental to a proper understanding of many of the problems that EPP graduate students address. At least 6 units must be in the area of political science, regulation, or law. Note that units for certain courses, such as 19-710 Management and Practice for Environmental Engineering, and 19-712 Telecommunications Technology, Policy, and Management may be split and counted partially for Type A and B course requirements, and that the Type B units for these can be applied to the political science-regulation-law requirement. Similar flexibility may apply to other courses as well. Our students also commonly take courses in the following CMU Schools and Departments: Tepper School of Business, The H.John Heinze III School of Public Policy and Management, the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, and the Department of Statistics.

An overall 3.0 GPA is expected for graduation.

Individualized Programs
The EPP curriculum allows for a great deal of flexibility in satisfying the course requirements for a Ph.D. degree. Students are encouraged to discuss and identify their research and career objectives early in their academic program, and map out a course of study to meet those objectives. In particular, students are expected to identify their own disciplinary core area, and select courses to obtain a mastery of that area. The area of mastery will often be part of an established discipline, with a particular focus, but may also encompass a newly emerging or interdisciplinary domain. The following are examples of core areas that students might define: Regulation of Telecommunication Systems, Computer Engineering: Human-Machine Communication, Manufacturing and Industrial Policy: R and D Policy, Hazardous Wastes Management, and Arms Control and Weapons Proliferation.

A wide variety of other disciplinary focus areas can be defined, consistent with the general research areas of the department and the research goals of the student. For some of these areas, available courses may not be adequate to meet the needs of the core mastery program. In this case, the student must arrange special studies or independent, directed reading courses with faculty supervision.

Upon entering the program, students are assigned initial academic advisors who are responsible for reviewing their course selections and progress each semester. These advisors may change as students progress and their program objectives and research topics become solidified, or change. Students are expected to begin their research efforts early in their program to ensure timely identification of an appropriate topic and core area. A record of the student's program is kept and reviewed each semester to ensure that course requirements are being met, and to enable the student to document progress in his or her program. Formal review and approval of the program take place as part of the student's Ph.D thesis proposal. The review certifies that an acceptable level of mastery of the chosen core area has been attained; otherwise, additional course requirements are specified.

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Qualifying Examinations

The objective of the EPP Qualifying Examinations is to assess the student's ability to do interdisciplinary research, based on sound knowledge of technical and social processes, good analytical methods, and the ability to structure and analyze problems in engineering and policy in a way that appropriately integrates the required knowledge, methods, and judgment. The levels of synthesis and evaluation to be demonstrated in these examinations go beyond those expected in most courses, although the core sequence (19-701 through 19-705) is aimed at developing and exercising this level of problem solving.

The Qualifiers consist of two parts: a research paper (Part A) and an extended take-home examination on an applied problem in policy analysis (Part B).

Part A
For EPP Part A Qualifier, the student must prepare an original research paper that addresses a problem in technology and policy in which the issues of technology play a central role. This paper is expected to demonstrate the student's ability to structure and perform research on problems in engineering and policy, including the ability to apply formal analytical tools in such research. The typical paper requires approximately one year of preparation, in parallel with regular course work. In preparing this paper, students are expected to seek the assistance and supervision of their faculty advisor and other members of the faculty. Considerable student initiative is expected in this process. The paper may be based on a joint M.S. project prepared under the supervision of faculty members from EPP and other departments.

Students who have prepared such a piece of work prior to joining EPP may elect to use this work with the approval of the Graduate Education Committee. However, the student must demonstrate that the work is his or hers and not the product of a group effort in which he or she played primarily a supervisory role, and that the work was done after he or she had obtained an undergraduate degree.

The Qualifying Examinations are conducted once a year, in January, and must be taken after students have been in the program for three semesters. Students must have the topic of their paper approved in the summer, at the end of their second semester, and give a preliminary oral presentation of their paper to the faculty in early fall. To obtain the preliminary approval in the summer, the student prepares a one-page prospectus which is distributed to all members of the EPP faculty and approved by the Graduate Education Committee. The final paper must be less than 5,000 words in length, and must be submitted to the department for distribution to the faculty on a prescribed date in January, a few weeks prior to the January examination date. At the examination, the student makes a 15- to 20-minute oral presentation of the paper and is then questioned by the faculty. Faculty questions may relate to the specifics of the paper, as well as to related but more fundamental material which forms the basis of the paper topic or the methods used.

Part B
Part B of the Qualifying Examinations occurs soon after Part A is submitted in early January. The objective of Part B is to examine students' ability to structure an unstructured policy problem on their own, and to select and apply appropriate problem-solving techniques. All students appearing for the Qualifier are presented with a problem in technology and policy, and given five days to prepare a written response. Examination problems are carefully constructed so as not to give a significant topic area advantage to any particular student.

Several outcomes of the Qualifying Examinations are possible. These are:

1. The student passes both parts of the examinations at the Ph.D. level.
2. The student passes one or both parts at the M.S. level, but not at the Ph.D. level. In this case, the student can take an M.S. degree. However, the option is also open to retake the examination(s) one more time when next offered. Students receive individual guidance on whether they should plan to retake the examination or leave the program with an M.S.
3. The student fails one or both parts. Such students are almost always advised to withdraw from graduate studies in EPP. They may, however, elect to retake the failed examination(s) one more time when next offered.

Students who retake the Qualifiers must do so the year after the first attempt. Students who have failed one or more parts of the Qualifying Examination normally do not receive graduate assistantship support while waiting to retake the examination.

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Ph.D. Thesis Proposal

Within six months of passing the Qualifying Examinations at the Ph.D. level, the student must produce a written thesis proposal which includes a summary of any preliminary results available. The written proposal must be given to the student's Ph.D. Committee at least one week before the oral presentation of the proposal. The Ph.D. Committee is appointed jointly by the student's thesis advisor and the department head, with the advice and consent of the student. The function of the PhD committee is both evaluative and supportive, but primarily the latter. The committee must have at least four members, at least two of whom must be EPP faculty members and at least one of whom does not have a major affiliation with EPP. The EPP members of the Ph.D. Committee are also responsible for certifying that departmental course requirements have been met, including the selection of courses to fulfill the student's particular core area of mastery.

The EPP Ph.D. qualifying process is completed when a student has passed the Qualifying Examinations at the Ph.D. level and has successfully defended his or her thesis proposal.

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Graduate Courses in EPP

As explained earlier, graduate students in Engineering and Public Policy take courses in several colleges or departments of the university.

A list of courses from other departments often selected by EPP graduate students follows the list of courses offered by EPP below.

19-700
Independent Study
Fall and Spring: TBA
The organized investigation of selected topics in technology and public policy not offered in formal courses, culminating in a written summary report.
Prerequisite: Faculty consent.

19-701
Introduction to Applied Policy Analysis
Fall (alternating with 19-702): 12 units
This course reviews and critically examines a set of basic problems, assumptions, and analytical techniques that are common to research and policy analysis in technology and public policy. Topics covered include basic ideas of risk analysis, policy problems formulated in terms of utility maximization, issues of uncertainty in policy analysis, limitations and alternatives to the paradigm of utility maximization, issues related to organizations and multiple agents, and selected topics in policy advice and policy analysis for the federal government. The objective is to look critically at the strengths, limitations, and underlying assumptions of policy research and analysis tools, identify important research issues, and sensitize students to some of the critical issues of taste, professional responsibility, ethics, and values that are associated with policy analysis and research.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing in EPP, or consent of instructor.

19-702
Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis
Fall: 12 units
This course provides a broad introduction to analytical and computational methods commonly used to address technical policy issues. Particular emphasis is placed on methods for decision analysis such as benefit-cost analysis, Bayesian methods, Monte Carlo simulation, and multi-objective analysis. A large component of the course is learning how to build a spreadsheet and software-based models for policy analysis.
Co-requisite: 12-704 or permission of instructor.

19-703
Survey Design and Analysis
Spring: 6 units (2nd mini)
This course covers measurement, reliability, and validity; experimental and quasi-experimental design; sampling; survey construction and administration; and estimation and hypothesis testing for means, proportions, correlations, and simple regression.
Optional course.
Prerequisite: Graduate student in good standing.

19-704
Applied Data Analysis
Spring: 6 units (1st mini)
This course covers several statistical procedures, including multiple regression with interactions, logistic regression, signal detection analysis, principal components analysis, factor analysis, and possibly other techniques, with an emphasis on hands-on data analysis.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing in EPP, or consent of instructor.

19-705
Workshop in Applied Policy Analysis
Fall: 6 units
Working in teams and individually, students complete a series of applied policy problems that involve technology and public policy. Solutions are presented in class and discussed with fellow students and faculty. The course provides experience with problems similar to those encountered in the second part of the EPP Ph.D. Qualifying Exam.
Optional course.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing in EPP, or consent of instructor.

19-706
Optimization
Fall: 6 units
This course is a mini. In a very short time, the students are exposed to several aspects of the field of optimization. The goals are to give the students a feel on the variety of approach, inform them on where to go to learn more about different approaches and get a sense of what are the challenges in this field and where it is going.
Optional course.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.

19-710/12-710
Management and Practice for Environmental Engineering
Spring: 12 units
Principles of environmental management for constructed facilities, manufactured products, real estate for building construction, and remedial action sites. Overview of the regulatory process, environmental risks, corporate organization, and relevant management strategies. Case studies of site and facility management, process management, and crisis management.
Prerequisite: Advanced undergraduate or graduate standing.

19-712/18-482
Telecommunications Technology, Policy, and Management
Fall: 12 units
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to basic principles of telecommunications technology and the telephone network, and the legal, economic, and regulatory environment of the telecommunications industry. Role of new technologies such as fiber, integrated digital networks, computer communications, and information services. Common carrier law and the economics of natural monopoly as the basis for regulation of the telecommunications industry. Issues of competition, monopoly, and technical standards. Spectrum allocation and management. International communications and transborder data flow. Special emphasis on how the new technologies have altered and are altered by regulation.
Prerequisite: A basic course in economics.

19-726/12-726
Mathematical Modeling of Environmental Quality Systems
Spring: 12 units
Development and application of mathematical models for environmental systems. Material balance formulations and their solution, computer implementation, model validation, uncertainty analysis, and use for policy analysis. Applications to surface water, groundwater, atmospheric transport, indoor air pollution, and human exposure and risk.

19-742
The Tangled Web: Technology, Economy, and Society
Fall: 12 units
Technology is now practiced on a willing society at a scale larger than ever before and is seen as an engine for economic growth, improving the quality of life, and for cleaning the environs. This course discusses issues arising out of the impact of technology. The following topics will be covered: Technology, Innovation and Growth; Technology Transfer; Appropriate Technologies; Dual-Use and Military Technologies (Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Materials Technology and their impact); Intellectual Property Rights and Protection; Technology Assessment and Choice.
Prerequisites: Advanced undergraduates and graduates only.

19-744
Technology Transfer
Fall: 9 units
Technology, by the products and processes it enables us to produce, is now increasingly prized as a major engine for growth. Its success is determined by many variables including the ability to be widely and successfully disseminated. The process of moving technology across corporations and countries is known as Technology Transfer. In this course, we plan to discuss various issues that determine such transfers. These will include a detailed analysis of the relationship of technology to economic growth, diffusion mechanisms, and the processes for the transfer of "know-how" and "know-why." We shall also consider problems of dual-use or military technology transfers across national borders, and intellectual property protection. There will be a few case studies and also guest lecturers sharing their experience in transferring technologies and protecting patents.
Prerequisites: Junior standing in CIT, MCS or SCS, or permission of instructor.

19-750
Project Research
Fall and Spring: TBA
Investigation of a problem in technology and public policy under the student's initiative, culminating in a written presentation of research findings.
Prerequisite: Faculty consent.

19-752
Engineering and Public Policy Project
Fall and Spring: 12 units
Interdisciplinary problem-solving project in which the student acts as a project manager in a mixed project team of graduate and undergraduate students. Problem areas are drawn from local, state, and national situations and involve the interaction of technology and public policy, with different projects being chosen each semester. Careful planning and coordination of, and participation in, project research activities, together with the management and preparation of interim and final oral and written presentations of project results, and supervision of final project completion, are required.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing, and consent of instructor.

19-799
Thesis Research
Fall and Spring: TBA
Independent research on significant fundamental problems in technology and public policy. Required of candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering and Public Policy.
Prerequisites: Passing of the Ph.D. Qualifier, and approval of faculty.

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Advanced Undergraduate Courses

(Under special circumstances, and with faculty approval, the following EPP courses may be accepted for graduate credit.)

19-297/24-297
Energy-Environmental Systems
Spring: 9 units
Fuel cycles for conventional and nonconventional energy resources; relationships between environmental impacts and the conversion or utilization of energy; measures of system and process efficiency; detailed study and analysis of coal-based energy systems, including conventional and advanced power generation, synthetic fuel production, and industrial processes; technological options for multimedia (air, water, land) pollution control; mathematical modeling of energy-environmental interactions and tradeoffs, and their dependency on technical and policy parameters; methodologies for energy and environmental forecasting; and applications to issues of current interest.
Prerequisite: 24-121, or equivalent.

19-319
Law and the Engineer
Fall and Spring: 9 units
In this course, basic legal concepts of interest to the general business/industrial setting are examined for their relevance to the engineering profession. From this foundation, the specific areas of consumer, commercial, and environmental law are studied from the viewpoint of their effect on the practicing engineer, both as a corporate employee and as a professional in private practice. The case study method is utilized, and students engage in supervised research projects dealing with current legal issues in specific areas of interest.
Prerequisite: Junior standing, or permission of instructor. (Note: EPP graduate students may not count this course toward Type A or Type B requirements.)

19-422
Radiation, Health, and Public Policy
Fall: 9 units
This course is concerned with the impact of radiation on public health, and the regulatory and social framework that controls radiation exposure to the public. After an overview of radiation physics and biology, the origin and magnitudes of the exposure on the part of the public to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, problems with measurement of radiation exposure, and the determination of the effects of low-level radiation are discussed. This is followed by an examination of the principles of health risk assessments and of the two major areas of radiation exposure: energy technologies and medical radiation. In each case, the roles of the government and of the citizen in the decision-making processes that affect population exposure, and strategies to optimize these roles, will be examined.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing in the College of Engineering or Mellon College of Science.

19-430
Civilian and Military Applications of Space
Spring: 12 units
An analysis of some specific defense and space policy issues is conducted. This analysis is abstracted from a study of the specific technologies involved. An assessment of the impact of technological advancement on the military capability, space policy, and arms control issues is proposed. As the exploitation of high technology has many ramifications, the course focuses on some areas carefully chosen, based on the recent events, to illustrate the extent of the impact and to permit as wide-ranging a discussion as possible. Those issues cover areas of advanced imaging and target recognition capabilities, the military exploitation of new physical principles, the development of new capabilities in space for military or civilian exploitation, and the convolution of these new capabilities with the increasing technological demands of arms control. In all examples, the interaction between technological progress and needs for policy changes (or emergence of policy dilemmas) are emphasized.
Prerequisite: Junior standing in engineering, or permission of instructor.

19-431
Technology and International Security
Fall: 9 units
The course examines the impact of high technology on national and international security from three different perspectives: military impact, including the relevance of technology in various regional conflicts; the impact of defense policy; and the proliferation of high technology in the Third World, including the spread and diffusion processes of military high technology in the Third World and its impact on security and international relations. As the course is intended to be useful to students in international relations and security, it is not taught as a heavily technical course. The emphasis is on policy.
Prerequisite: Junior standing, or permission of instructor.

19-448
Science, Technology, and Ethics
Spring: 9 units
Technology has always been a pervasive force in society. But the past 50 years have seen an unprecedented acceleration of the growth and permeation of technology. The central role of technology and engineering in the modern world requires an examination of the responsibility that must guide the actions of those who develop, deploy, and spread technologies. This course examines the meaning and significance of technology in society through general paradigms and specific examples. It first traces the stages of technology as described by Bright and Mansfield. It reviews the philosophers, with special reference to those whose work has significance for the development of an "ethics for the technological age." The course then applies these principles of ethics to the different stages of a technology, from scientific discovery and invention through societal impact. Finally, it explores in detail the field of engineering ethics.
Prerequisite: Junior standing in engineering or science, or permission of instructor.

19-501
Special Topics in Engineering and Public Policy
Fall and Spring: 9 units
Special topics dealing with the relationship between technology and public policy in interest areas such as: environmental systems and resources, application of technology to urban problems, energy and fuel utilization, inter-action of law and technology, and problems in communication technology.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

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Project Courses

One of the most important components of both the graduate and undergraduate curricula is the project course. Two of these projects are normally run jointly by EPP, the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management each semester. Each project group is composed of junior and senior EPP undergraduate students, first-year M.S. students in the Heinz School, undergraduate students from Social and Decision Sciences, and one or two Ph.D. students who manage the project. Faculty advisers are drawn from EPP, the Heinz School, and Social and Decision Sciences faculties. While the project topics vary widely, each project displays the following characteristics: