The EPP department offers additional major B.S. degree programs with each of the five traditional engineering departments in the College of Engineering. The additional major leads to a fully accredited engineering degree that prepares students for a traditional technical career. EPP’s additional major students are not trained to be a different kind of engineer—rather, this program enables them to be better, more socially responsible engineers in their traditional technical fields.
The undergraduate additional major programs in EPP combine a strong foundation in mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering skills with rigorous preparation in the analysis of social and political problems. The curricula include subject matter that is not part of traditional engineering or social science curricula but contains elements of each.
Students complete courses in four core areas: economics, statistics, decision-making, and communication, as well as EPP Technology-Policy elective courses. Finally, students apply their skills in a project preparatory course and two interdisciplinary problem-solving projects. Problem areas for these projects are chosen from local, state, and national scenarios and include such topics as information privacy and security, environmental monitoring, global energy issues, technological innovation, and internet communication technologies. Students from several CMU colleges enroll in these project courses, exposing EPP additional majors to multi and interdisciplinary work experiences.
The Engineering and Public Policy additional major program, completed in conjunction with one of Carnegie Mellon University’s accredited traditional engineering programs, is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
Educational objectives
Students who earn an additional major in Engineering and Public Policy at the undergraduate level do so in conjunction with a traditional engineering major. The elements of the EPP undergraduate program broaden the traditional scope of technical analysis to encompass an engineering solution’s potential impact on society. Thus, our graduates have the same skills as their peers in traditional engineering majors but with a broader societal perspective and additional analysis skills. This enables our graduates to understand the interface between technology and society and to help solve the complex, interdisciplinary systems problems facing our world in their careers. Students will be able to work in a variety of technical and non-technical career fields in industry, government, and wherever these broad skills are needed.
Student outcomes
By the end of the combined B.S. programs in a traditional program and the EPP program, students should have attained the ability to:
- Identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
- Apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
- Communicate effectively with a range of audiences
- Recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
- Function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
- Develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
- Acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies
Course requirements
| Course number | Course name |
|---|---|
| 19-101 | Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy |
| 19-201 | EPP Sophomore Seminar |
| Course number | Course name |
|---|---|
| 73-102 | Principles of Microeconomics |
| 19-250 | Special Topics: Statistical Models for Engineering Analysis and Design |
| 36-220 | Engineering Statistics and Quality Control or other approved statistics course |
Decision science elective
One of the following or another approved course:
| Course number | Course name |
|---|---|
| 19-301 | Decision-Making Methods for Engineers & Scientists |
| 84-369 | Decision Science for International Relations |
| 88-223 | Decision Analysis and Decision Support Systems |
| 88-302 | Behavioral Decision Making |
Writing and communications
One of the following or another approved course:
| Course number | Course name |
|---|---|
| 76-270 | Writing for the Professions |
Technology-policy electives
At least three courses of EPP technology-policy electives (24 units minimum)
| Course number | Course name |
|---|---|
| 19-352 | Applied Methods for Technology-Policy Analysis |
| 19-451 or 19-452 | EPP Projects (taken twice) |
EPP technology-policy electives include courses that synthesize engineering analysis and social analysis perspectives and apply them to problems with substantial societal and technological components. Specific areas of interest for these courses are:
- Energy, resources, and the environment
- Risk assessment
- Forensic engineering
- Urban engineering
- Information and communication technology
- Product engineering and design, among others
Courses that teach methods or analysis skills necessary for solving complex problems or courses that provide technical background for policy-relevant issues are also included.
The capstone experience for EPP undergraduates consists of problem-solving project courses to synthesize technology-policy issues with social science analysis. In the EPP Projects Course, students work on unstructured, real-world problems that, for proper treatment, require teamwork and contributions from diverse disciplines. A common lament from recruiters of undergraduates is a lack of general team-oriented, multi-faceted, problem-solving skills, along with poor written and oral communication skills to a broad audience. The EPP project courses provide all of those skills to students and are the course most often identified by our alumni as the essential course of their undergraduate careers. Offered each semester, the courses involve faculty and students from EPP, the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, and Heinz College. Problem areas are abstracted from local, state, and national situations and involve the interaction of technology and public policy.