WHAT IS THE T&P MINOR?

The Technology and Policy Minor is a curriculum of study administered by the Department of Engineering and Public Policy (EPP). It consists of six courses (51 units). The T&P Minor is designed to give students a basic understanding of the interactions between Technology, Society and Policy and some project experience in problems involving Technology and Policy.

WHO SHOULD DO THE T&P MINOR?

The T&P Minor is designed for students outside of engineering who would like to explore their interests in technology and policy without significant overload to the course requirements in their major curriculum. The requirements involve a number of courses in engineering departments and may therefore involve prerequisites. Courses taken for your major or other minor may be double-counted towards the T&P Minor.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE T&P MINOR?

The T&P Minor requires satisfactory completion of a set of six courses totaling to a minimum of 51 units. These courses are:

*One of the following:

• 88-223 Decision Anal. & Decision Support Systems, 9 units, Spring
• 88-302 Behavioral Decision Making, 9 units, Fall
• 88-344 Strategic Games & Decisions, 9 units, Spring

WHAT IS THE EPP SOPHOMORE SEMINAR?

The EPP Sophomore Seminar is a brief introduction to the types of issues, perspectives and problem solving that you are likely to encounter in your T&P Minor. It is taught as a set of case studies in which students role play different groups that represent the diverse interests in technology and policy issues.

WHAT ARE EPP PROJECTS?

Project courses are run jointly between the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, The Heinz School, and the Department of Social and Decision Sciences in H&SS. The typical project course involves between 25 and 35 students, half of whom are junior or senior engineering students in EPP and half of whom are a mixture of first-year masters students in The Heinz School and undergraduates in Social and Decision Sciences. Projects address some real world problem in technology and public policy, usually 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 get the problem solved. There are typically between two and four faculty advisors, drawn from engineering and from social sciences as well as one or two student managers. Over the first couple of weeks of a project, students in the course 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 a valuable opportunity for students to develop and refine their verbal skills which turn out, in the real world of daily engineering practice, to be every bit as important for success as the more traditional mathematical and quantitative analytical skills.

AREN'T PROJECT COURSES PRETTY 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.

WHAT ARE T&P TECHNICAL ELECTIVES

The T&P Technical Electives are primarily a subset of courses taught in the engineering college (CIT), and include a few courses outside CIT. T&P Technical Electives are courses that have technology and policy components. A list of the currently offered T&P Technical Electives are available from the EPP Office (Baker Hall 129). Examples are given below (list is updated yearly). The T&P technical elective set is not the same as the EPP technical elective list although they do have most of the CIT courses in common.

The T&P Technical Electives include:

19-101 Introduction to EPP
19-249 Energy and Environmental Systems
19-319 Law and the Engineer (H&SS, not a technical elective for CIT majors)
19-402 Telecommunications, Technology, Policy and Management
19-422 Radiation, Health and Public Policy
19-430 Civilian and Military Applications of Space
19-431 Technology and Security
19-448 Science, Technology and Ethics
19-650 Climate Change: Myth or Reality
19-710 Management Principles and Practices for Environmental Engineering
19-742/442 Technology, Economy and Society: The Tangled Web
12-636 Air Pollution
12-310 Engineering Economics
12-635 Water Quality
12-607 Project Management
21-292 Operations Research
27-557 Selection and Performance of Materials
36-220 Engineering Statistics and Quality Control
39-405 Engineering Design: Creation of Products and Processes
39-640 Special Topics: Green Engineering and Design

HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE OR SIGN UP FOR THE T&P MINOR?

If you are interested in the T&P Minor, contact the Department of Engineering and Public Policy early in your course of study. For general questions and help with planning the T&P Minor, contact: Mark Kieler, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Baker Hall 129, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, phone: 412/268-3645, email: mk08@andrew.cmu.edu.