Minors
The Department of Engineering and Public Policy offers two minors for undergraduate students:
Technology and Policy minor
For CMU students outside the College of Engineering, EPP administers the Technology and Policy (T&P) minor. The T&P minor is designed to allow students to explore interests in the interactions of technology and policy without significant overload to the course requirements in their major curriculum.
If you would like to learn more about this program, please schedule an appointment with Deanna Matthews, associate department head for undergraduate affairs.
Prerequisites
Students should have prerequisite knowledge in economics (73-102 Microeconomics or higher level economics course) and statistics (36-202 Statistical Methods or higher level statistics course) in order to pursue the Technology and Policy Minor.
Course requirements
| Course number | Course title |
|---|---|
| 19-101 | Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy |
| 19-301 or 19-351 |
Decision-Making Methods for Engineers & Scientists Applied Methods for Technology-Policy Analysis |
| 19-451 or 19-452 |
EPP Projects EPP Projects |
| xx-xxx | Two EPP technology-policy electives (18 units minimum) |
T&P technical electives include courses in the College of Engineering, MCS, or SCS that generally belong to two categories: courses that synthesize engineering analysis and social analysis perspectives and apply them to problems with substantial societal and technological components; and courses that teach methods or background vital to classes of important problems at the technology-society interface. 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
- Robotics
*Courses in other topic areas may also be included as determined from year to year.
Students wishing to declare the Technology and Policy minor should contact their academic advisor and the EPP department.
Information Security, Privacy, and Policy minor
This interdisciplinary minor is offered by both the College of Engineering and the School of Computer Science.
As demand for security and privacy experts grows, so does interest among CMU undergraduates in taking security and privacy courses. Security and privacy expertise is an asset in a variety of careers in areas that include computer science, business, management, and law. In addition, employers are increasingly interested in hiring people with an understanding of relevant policy issues, especially in the privacy and security area.
This minor is for undergraduate students across the university who are interested in policy issues related to security and privacy. The curriculum has been designed to accommodate students from any major as long as they have taken at least one introductory-level college programming course (such as 15-110 or 15-112).
After completing this minor, students will have a strong understanding of how to identify potential security and privacy risks and relevant legal and policy issues; a working understanding of security topics such as cryptography, authentication, and Internet security protocols; as well as ba road knowledge of several security and privacy-related areas as they pertain to the design, development, deployment and management of technologies in a variety of practical contexts (e.g., Web, mobile, Internet of Things, social media, cryptocurrencies).
Admission
Students are not required to apply to enroll in this minor to start the required courses. However, they are encouraged to consult with the minor director on their elective course selection. In addition, students doing the independent study option must get approval from the minor director prior to enrolling in their independent study course. Finally, students must contact the minor director to certify their completion of the minor.
Curriculum
*Important - While reviewing information on the ISPP curriculum, please bear in mind the following:
- Cross-listed courses are allowed throughout
- A course listed under multiple categories may only be counted toward one requirement
| Course number | Course title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| 17-331 | Information Security, Privacy, and Policy | 12 |
Students who have taken 15-213 Introduction to Computer Systems may substitute 15-330 Introduction to Computer Security/18-330 Introduction to Computer Security.
| Course number | Course title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| 17-333 | Privacy Policy, Law, and Technology | 9 |
Students may substitute a 12-unit version of this course: 19-608, 17-333, or 95-818.
Privacy electives
Complete a minimum of 9 units:
| Course number | Course title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| 17-334 / 17-734 | Usable Privacy and Security | 9 |
| 17-880 | Algorithms for Private Data Analysis | 9 |
| 17-702 | Current Topics In Privacy Seminar | 3 |
| 17-731 | Foundations of Privacy | 12 |
| 17-735 | Engineering Privacy in Software | 12 |
| 94-806 | Privacy in the Digital Age | 6 |
Technology and policy electives
Complete a minimum of 9 units:
| Course number | Course title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| 19-211 | Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing | 9 |
| 17-562 | Law of Computer Technology | 9 |
| 19-101 | Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy | 12 |
| 19-402 | Telecommunications Technology and Policy for the Internet Age | 12 |
| 19-403 | Policies of Wireless Systems | 12 |
| 19-639 | Policies of the Internet | 12 |
| 84-387 | Technology and Policy of Cyber War | 9 |
Additional approved electives
Students must complete an additional elective of 9 units or more. Students may choose an additional privacy elective or technology policy elective from the list above or the one of the following:
| Course number | Course title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| 15-316 | Software Foundations of Security and Privacy | 9 |
| 15-356 | Introduction to Cryptography | 12 |
| 19-303/17-303 | Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains and Applications | Var. |
| 19-534/17-334 | Usable Privacy and Security | 9 |
| 18-335 | Secure Software Systems | 12 |
Students who have the necessary prerequisites may choose any approved elective from the SCS or ECE security and privacy undergraduate concentration. Check with the minor program director to determine which elective category each course will fulfill.
Students should be careful in choosing electives for which they have appropriate prerequisites. New elective options are expected as more courses are offered. Students may petition to count a course not on this list as an elective. Students should request permission before taking a course that is not on this list. Students may not count multiple electives that overlap substantially.
Optional project: Subject to approval by the minor director, students may optionally count towards one of the elective requirements 9 units of an independent study or research project course in the security or privacy area under the supervision of a faculty member in any department. In order to receive credit towards the minor, students must submit a brief project proposal to their project advisor and to the minor director and have it approved prior to conducting the project. Depending on the topic of the project, the minor director may approve credits counting towards privacy electives, technology policy electives, security electives, or some combination of these. Students may work individually, with other undergraduates, or as part of project teams with graduate students or research staff. Students involved in a group project must identify specific project components for which they are responsible. In addition, they must submit a final project report to their project advisor and the minor director, which includes a literature review and describes the work they completed. Students working on a group project must each submit their own final report, which should also situate their contribution in the context of the larger project. Note that students are expected to work approximately 1 hour per week for each unit of the project in which they are enrolled (e.g., 9 units = 9 hours/week of project work).
Double counting: At most, 2 of the courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be counted towards any other undergraduate major or minor program. This rule does not apply to courses counted for general education requirements.