What is Engineering and Public Policy?

EPP is a department in the engineering college (CIT) at Carnegie Mellon. It’s primarily concerned with problems that involve the interaction of technology with society... things like energy and environmental systems, problems involving the social impacts of computer and communication technologies, questions of how to design products that are environmentally friendly, technical issues in national security and so on. EPP has both undergraduate and graduate programs. This pamphlet talks mainly about the undergraduate double major programs.

What are the EPP programs at the undergraduate level?

The most popular is the double major degree program which lets you get a joint degree between EPP and any of the five traditional engineering departments (Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Mechanical, and Materials Science), or with Computer Science (SCS). For example, if you choose ECE, your degree would read “BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy.” About 10% of all the engineering students at Carnegie Mellon do a double major degree with EPP. There are two other undergraduate programs: the 3-1-1 program with The Heinz School; and a minor in Technology and Policy (T&P) for students not in CIT or SCS (see next to last page of this brochure). The department also offers a 5th-year Masters for students who complete an EPP major or T&P minor.

How does the double major program work? How can you
fit in enough courses to cover the EPP part of the degree
and still finish a regular technical major?

We fit the EPP double major into the elective courses in the traditional single major engineering or CS programs. Here is a diagram that shows roughly how this works:

Four electives in a traditional major get replaced by EPP technical electives. Additionally, the Humanities, Social Science and Fine Arts electives are replaced by Social Analysis electives. Two EPP project courses and two Probability and Statistics courses replace two additional electives. The details of the double major curricula are different in each department. The Carnegie Mellon undergraduate catalog spells out the course requirements for each of the six double major programs in tables which show exactly how the single and double major curricula compare with each other.

What do the job prospects look like if I do a double major
with Engineering and Public Policy?

Well, if you do a double major with ChemE, CEE, ECE, MechE or MSE, you end up with a regular accredited engineering degree so you don’t really lose any options in terms of a traditional engineering job. The same is true for CS. In fact, the double major adds some additional flexibility which you wouldn’t have if you chose to do just the single major. You can still pursue a traditional technical career, and indeed more than 80% of our double major students do just that. But you possess an added set of skills and perspectives which make you able to do a better job of dealing with the social and ethical responsibilities that all professionals face. Employers recognize these skills. Hence, many will view you as more attractive even for a traditional engineering or CS job. The EPP department is contacted by firms every year to recruit EPP graduates because of their satisfaction with the knowledge and skills acquired by the EPP graduates. At the same time, because you’ve done the double major degree, you open up a collection of other options which are not available to most technical graduates. These include jobs in policy analysis in federal, state, and local government, in public policy consulting firms, and in large corporations which must deal with issues like government regulation, environmental control, worker health and safety, product liability and safety, telecommunications policy, green design, and the social impact of large technological systems. Besides being interesting areas, there is another reason to think about getting qualified for jobs in these areas. From time-to-time, the bottom falls out of the traditional engineering job market. You could look upon an EPP double major degree as a way to invest in a bit of future employability insurance.

Do I have to overload to take additional courses in order
to complete the double major?

No. In most cases the number of courses is exactly the same as for a single major engineering degree, although it may involve a few more units (i.e., a couple of 12 unit courses in place of 9 unit courses). Here is a comparison:

What are EPP technical electives?

Basically there are two kinds of technical electives. First, there is a set of courses which deal with substantive problems in technology and public policy. These include information and telecommunications policy, energy and environmental issues, manufacturing and quality control, risk analysis and management, workforce and technical education, and technical issues in arms control. The second set of courses don’t address specific technology/policy problems. Instead, they provide students with basic tools such as operations research and engineering economics which are valuable for analysis on a wide range of problems in technology and public policy. A sample list of the EPP technical electives is provided in the Carnegie Mellon undergraduate catalog, and a complete list appears in the specific preregistration packets which EPP produces shortly before registration each semester.

What are the social analysis requirements?

All EPP double majors must take the course 73-100 Principles of Economics and one course in decision analysis (19-426 Environmental Decision Making, 88-302 Behavioral Decision Making, or 88-223 Decision Analysis). The other four social analysis requirements can be met by drawing from a long list of approved courses offered by the humanities and social science units at Carnegie Mellon. EPP has grouped these courses into subject matter categories such as Organization, Economics, Interpersonal Processes, Demography, Technology and Society, Political Analysis and Urban Analysis.

How do project courses work?

Project courses are run jointly between the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, the Department of Social and Decision Sciences in H&SS, and The Heinz School. The typical project course involves approximately 25 students. The majority are junior or senior engineering students in EPP, but many are undergraduates in Social and Decision Sciences and first year Masters students in The Heinz School. Projects address some real world problem in technology and public policy, often with an outside client for whom the work is being done. Students start the semester with a vaguely defined problem area and various background materials which they must use to define and shape a workable problem and then undertake the necessary analysis to solve the problem. There are usually two faculty advisors and two student managers. Over the first couple of weeks of a project, the students work on developing a thorough understanding of the subject and defining the focus of the work they will do. About a third of the way into the semester, students make a first formal presentation at which they present their proposed research to an outside review panel of experts who represent different expertise and points of view in the problem field. The review panel assists the students by providing critical comments on the way in which they have structured the problem and by suggesting various resources and information sources. About two-thirds of the way through the semester, students make a second presentation to the project review committee at which they present a progress report and receive steering suggestions from the review panel. At the end of the semester, the students prepare a final written project report and make a final verbal presentation of their findings and conclusions to the review panel. Of course, it’s impossible for 25 to 35 people to work a single problem all together, so much of the work in project courses gets done in smaller working groups of four to eight students. Project courses serve several important educational functions. First, they are the one place where students get an opportunity to put together the various technical and social analysis components of their education and gain hands-on experience working on real world problems. Second, project courses provide valuable opportunity for students to develop and refine their verbal, oral and presentation skills. In the real world of daily engineering practice, these skills are every bit as important for success as the more traditional mathematical and quantitative analytical skills.
Aren’t project courses time consuming?

Yes, they certainly are, and they’re hard work. But they’re also exciting, challenging and very educational. Year after year as we talk with graduating seniors and alumni, we are told that project courses are the most valued part of the entire curriculum.
With the complicated requirements for the double major degree, how will I keep things straight?

EPP has faculty appointed with each of the five traditional engineering departments. These faculties serve as student advisors and, with the assistance of the EPP departmental office, maintain careful records for all students. Each semester, approximately a week before preregistration, EPP publishes a student advisory brochure which lists all major requirements and identifies all of the various elective courses which are available for EPP students in the coming semester. With these advisory services, students have little trouble keeping abreast of where they stand in meeting the requirements with the double degree. Indeed in several larger departments, students have commented that the individual advising they get from their EPP advisor makes preregistration less of a hassle than it is for single major students.

Are there any reasons why I shouldn’t do a double
major EPP degree?

Yes, there are several. First, the EPP double degree is a very challenging academic program. If you think you may have trouble getting through just a single major undergraduate program, EPP is probably not a good idea for you. Second, if you are interested in other special degree programs, such as the biomedical engineering program, you’ll probably have your hands full and will want to plan carefully. The EPP double major is compatible with many of the minors, but plan early. Mark Kieler can help you with this. Lastly, at the undergraduate level, most engineering students want and need a broad range of skills. However, some decide from the outset that they are most interested in focusing on the development of advanced technical skills and want to devote all of their available elective courses to this objective. Such students usually choose not to do the EPP degree.

What is the minor in Technology and Policy?

EPP offers a T&P minor for students outside of CIT and SCS that consists of six courses, totaling 51 units. These are the EPP sophomore seminar; the two required social analysis electives; two EPP technical electives; and one project course. The T&P minor is not available to engineering students. Double counting of course requirements is possible. Contact the EPP department for details.

Are there undergraduate programs like EPP at other
schools?

Ours is the only one. Carnegie Mellon started its undergraduate program in this area in 1971 with the help of a grant from the Sloan Foundation. The people at Sloan were so delighted with what Carnegie Mellon was developing that they proceeded to make a number of grants to other universities in order to try to stimulate similar programs. Several universities such as Cornell University and Penn State offer a large number of very good undergraduate courses and programs in the area of Science, Technology, and Society but does not offer a formal undergraduate degree program for engineers. Several universities including Stanford and MIT have graduate departments or programs. One of the reasons that so few universities have succeeded in developing stable programs in the area of technology and public policy is that most universities have very great difficulty working across department and disciplinary boundaries. For various historical and institutional reasons, Carnegie Mellon is a university where interdisciplinary research can be done easily and naturally.

How can I learn more about EPP?

There are several ways to learn more. Read the section in the undergraduate catalog on EPP. Come talk with us. The EPP department offices are in Baker Hall 129. Our telephone number is 412-268-2670. We have faculty advisors in all the engineering departments. Here is a list:

Chemical Engineering:
Mark Kieler, 126C Baker Hall, x8-3645, mk08@andrew.cmu.edu

Civil and Environmental Engineering:
Peter Adams, 113 Porter Hall, x8-5624, petera@andrew.cmu.edu
Cliff Davidson, 123E Porter Hall, x8-2951, cliff@cmu.edu
Scott Matthews, 118L Porter Hall, x8-6218, hsm@cmu.edu
Mitchell Small, 123D Porter Hall, x8-8782, ms35@andrew.cmu.edu

Electrical and Computer Engineering:
Marija Ilic, B25 Porter Hall, x8-9520, milic@ece.cmu.edu
Jon Peha, 129B Baker Hall, x8-7126, peha@cmu.edu
Adrian Perrig, B204 Hamerschlag Hall, x8-2242, adrian@ece.cmu.edu

Mechanical Engineering:
Allen Robinson, 312 Scaife Hall, x8-3657, alr@andrew.cmu.edu
Ed Rubin, 128A Baker Hall, x8-5897, rubin@cmu.edu

Materials Science and Engineering:
Mark Kieler, 126C Baker Hall, x8-3645, mk08@andrew.cmu.edu

General, Computer Science, and the T&P minor:
Mark Kieler, 126C Baker Hall, x8-3645, mk08@andrew.cmu.edu

Talk with EPP students on the EPP SAC (Student Advisory Council). You can get their phone numbers or set up a meeting by calling the EPP departmental office. The threeunit> EPP Sophomore Seminar is a good course to take if you would like to get a feel for EPP before you sign up for a double major or the T&P minor.