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 Projects 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 the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon. EPP doctoral students serve as project managers. Problem areas are abstracted from local, state, and national situations and involve the interaction of technology and public policy.
In each project course, students work in multidisciplinary teams (engineers, computer science students, humanities and social science students, public policy and management graduate students) on a “cutting edge” project topic with very little in the way of “pre-digested” analysis or solutions. Project faculty attempt to choose topics with both technical and social dimensions, requiring multi-dimensional analysis. Students are given a general goal and are expected to discover existing knowledge on the topic, research existing policies relevant to the topic, and analyze alternatives that make society better off. Using this background research and their technical and social analysis education as appropriate, the students then create new knowledge on the subject. This knowledge is communicated to an external advisory panel, selected from experts and constituencies of importance to the issue. Students give interim reports during the semester, after which the advisory panel may make suggestions on the direction and scope of the work. A final oral report and a written report are presented to the panel at the end of the semester. (12 units)
By the end of the course, students should gain skills in the following areas:
These course objectives are independent of the content and topic or what specific activities and responsibilities a particular student takes on.
Spring 2024: Energy Transitions - Cost and Sustainability of Trade-offs
Faculty: Destenie Nock, Ramteen Sioshansi
Project Manager: Akua McLeod
The energy system is in a large transition due to the immediate need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst outcomes of climate change. In response to the pressing need to rapidly decarbonize, companies are thinking of different power plant types to invest in. There are a lot of questions regarding how energy systems will change; many energy sectors are electrifying for the first time (transportation, industry, residential, etc.), and the electricity system is rapidly transitioning towards lower carbon generation sources. Electrification of new sectors places strain on aging distribution technologies, and variable electricity sources pose problems in reliably meeting demand. Further, climate change is increasing the severity of weather events across the entire country. In the midst of this energy transition, it is unclear how the cost and benefits of investing in power plants will vary. There is also questions regarding how this will impact local communities, where disadvantaged communities have been disproportionately impacted by the energy sector. In this project, students will assess different options for a sustainable energy transition.
Fall 2023: Mitigating Flood Risks and Impacts in Pittsburgh’s Four Mile Run
Faculty: Deanna Matthews, John Miller
Project Manager: Elina Hoffmann
Pittsburgh’s topography and urban development over time have resulted in several areas of the city having high flood risk. One of these areas is Four Mile Run, which includes watersheds from the Squirrel Hill, Oakland, and Greenfield neighborhoods. These watersheds flow into the Monongahela River, joining the river about four miles upstream from the Point in downtown Pittsburgh. When heavy rain occurs, the neighborhoods in the lower parts of the watershed experience flooding that damages homes and other property. More extreme weather events are anticipated with ongoing climate change.
Various institutions are determining how to best address flooding in the area, including the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA). PWSA is currently under a federal mandate to address stormwater management. Adding complexity to the problem is the railroad that traverses the area, and Panther Hollow Lake has a dam that falls under federal and state dam policies.
Our policy analysis may involve modeling rainfall and water flow, stormwater monitoring, predicting flood levels under different technical solutions, understanding the economic viability of different options, and incentivizing flood prevention options, among other topics.
Spring 2023: Infrastructure Bill and Inflations Reduction Act Impacts on the Clean Energy Transition
Faculty: Destenie Nock
Project Managers: Teagan Goforth, Lily Hanig
The energy system is in a large transition due to the immediate need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst outcomes of climate change. In response to the pressing need to rapidly decarbonize, congress has passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which, in part, fund, subsidize, and legislate to cover the costs of the energy transition. Additionally, the current administration enacted Justice40, an initiative to provide 40% of benefits to disadvantaged communities. There are a lot of questions regarding how energy systems will change; many energy sectors are electrifying for the first time (transportation, industry, residential, etc.), and the electricity system is rapidly transitioning towards lower carbon generation sources. Electrification of new sectors places strain on aging distribution technologies, and variable electricity sources pose problems in reliably meeting demand. Further, climate change is increasing the severity of weather events across the entire country. In the midst of this energy transition, it is unclear how this infrastructure will be deployed and how this will impact local communities, where disadvantaged communities have been disproportionately impacted by the energy sector. In this project, students will assess different options for a sustainable energy transition.
Fall 2022: Electric Vehicle Charging for Urban Dwellers - The Case of Allegheny County
Faculty: Marvin Sirbu, John Miller
Project Manager: Nikhil Kalathil
The increasing electrification of industrial society is needed if we are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. In the United States, transportation accounts for around 27% of greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce these emissions, automobile companies, encouraged by consumer demand and government policy, are beginning to produce more electric vehicles (EVs) for consumers. One impediment to the widespread adoption of EVs is the potential difficulty of charging such vehicles during long-distance trips and daily commuting. Currently, nationwide networks of charging stations are being developed to accommodate long-distance EV travel. While such networks do alleviate “range anxiety’’ during long-distance travel, they may not solve the more common issue of an EV owner wanting to charge her vehicle for daily commuting. Around 40% of Americans don’t live in single-family homes, and even those who do may not have access to a garage or driveway in many urban areas. Where will these people charge their vehicles, and who will provide the chargers? The focus of this semester’s project is on the problem of charging electric vehicles in urban areas and how this can be alleviated using policy. While such issues will likely arise in any urban area, we will use Allegheny County as a test case for this project.
Spring 2022: Planning for Public Transit in a Post-Pandemic Remote Work World
Faculty: Deanna Matthews, Destenie Nock
Project Managers: Lily Hanig, Victor Rodriguez
Public transit provides essential transportation needs for many in metro populations. Bus transit has historically been designed to address the needs of transit-dependent populations as well as commuters. In the past 20 years, new transportation options have been developing—including vehicle sharing (e.g., zip car), micro-mobility (e.g., scooter and bike rentals), ride-hailing services (e.g., Uber and Lyft), and new delivery service innovations to replace personal travel (e.g., Instacart, Amazon, Uber Eats). The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 flipped the transportation system on its head and is forcing public transit planners to rethink the long-term strategy for meeting the needs of its riders amidst more innovative technologies entering the market.
This project examined public transit design and patterns of ridership, the use of other transportation modes, and the future of remote work policies on transportation systems as we transition out of the pandemic. For example, the pandemic ridership drops helped to identify truly transit-dependent populations and how traditional peak-planning of transit capacity did not address their needs. New remote work policies are still under development at many large employers, so it is uncertain how workers will decide to travel to work. The overall goal is to assist policymakers in understanding the transportation needs of the future and how to design future transportation infrastructure and transit systems to be effective, efficient, and equitable.
Fall 2021: Enhancing the Regulation of Industrial Air Pollution
Faculty: Alex Davis, John Miller
Project Managers: Rudolph Santarromana, Sean Smillie
Air and water pollution can significantly harm human health and the environment. One common approach to dealing with pollution is to monitor the source and to regulate the output by enforcing limits on the allowable amount of pollution that can be emitted. Such regulation is a key function of governmental agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States and the Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente (SMA) in Chile. Such agencies confront a difficult task given the complexity of pollution production and monitoring and the resulting impacts combined with a regulatory environment driven by various business, political, and social interests. Regulating pollution sources raises key issues about how to prioritize and enforce pollution controls. One set of issues surrounds the prioritization of enforcement, namely, should regulators direct their efforts toward particular facilities, perhaps based on, say, the likely impact of the resulting pollution or the past history of non-compliance. Another set of questions involves the strategic response of facilities to the various monitoring and enforcement systems that are put in place. Are there ways to anticipate such behavior and set up regulations to avoid improper responses? Recent changes in technology, ranging from real-time monitoring to satellite surveillance and crowd-sourced data collection, may also provide new opportunities to monitor and improve the ability of regulators to enforce limits on pollution. Considerations of environmental justice must temper all of the previous issues. Finally, along with traditional approaches to regulation, are there opportunities for a more behaviorally-based approach to improving this system?
Spring 2021: Implications of Vehicle Electrification for Geopolitical Supply Chain Risks, Trade, Security, Economic Prosperity, and Social Welfare (Jobs, Environment, Equity)
Faculty: Erica Fuchs
Project Managers: Sarah Troise, Charles Van-Hein Sackey
In response to environmental and energy security policies, technology advancements, and consumer preferences, the global automotive industry is undergoing a rapid transition from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to electric vehicles (EVs). While long-range EVs still have battery pack costs that are thousands of dollars above desired values, real costs have declined by 89% since 2010. This project will assess the implications of vehicle electrification and competing powertrain and charging infrastructure designs for social welfare (including labor, e.g., job and skill demand, workforce transitions, equity, and decarbonization), economic outcomes, resilience, and security, as well as how these outcomes change across production locations of different aspects of the supply chain. Students may explore the implications of novel charging infrastructures, car-sharing methods, fast-charging technologies, and other concepts that lower costs. Methods may include process-based cost modeling, mapping of O*NET skill requirements to production process steps, life cycle analysis, risk analysis, optimization, multi-criteria decision analysis, and others.
Fall 2020 Decarbonizing Residential Energy Use in Allegheny County
Faculty: Marvin Sirbu, John Miller
Project Managers: Nyla Khan, Tamara Savage
Residential energy use accounts for roughly 20% of total U.S. energy consumption. Because less than 2% of the U.S. housing stock is replaced each year, if we are to move towards dramatically lower CO2 emissions by 2050, we must begin now to reduce the use of fossil fuel-based energy sources for residential uses. In some jurisdictions, for example, building codes require all new residential construction to use only electric energy in anticipation of an electric grid that increasingly relies on renewable or non-CO2-emitting energy sources (e.g., nuclear).
Allegheny County, like much of the Northeast, has an older housing stock and is more heavily reliant on fossil fuels for major residential energy uses such as space heating, hot water, and cooking. In this project, we will examine steps that can be taken to accelerate the decarbonization of residential energy use, focusing on Allegheny County and its housing stock.
Spring 2020: The Success and Public Impacts of Technology Development Zones: The Case of Neighborhood 91
Faculty: Erica Fuchs and Deanna Matthews
Project Manager: Yanran Yang
Technology Development Zones aim to foster the growth of new technologies by establishing a geographical closeness of related industries. We are examining one such zone, Neighborhood 91, at the Pittsburgh International Airport, focusing on additive manufacturing. We are investigating the factors that may influence the success of the development zone as well as the potential impact of such a development zone on the new technology area, the broader community of manufacturing in the Southwestern PA area, as well as quality of life.