New Master's Program: AI Engineering in CEE
As AI gets better, engineers need to level up. Carnegie Mellon University’s new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence Engineering (MS AIE) combines the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning with engineering domain knowledge and culminates in an integrated capstone project — in other words, the rare know-how to develop and apply AI-based solutions within an engineering context.
“I’m excited to see what transformations that will happen to our profession once these students have graduated and taken on the workforce,” says Mario Bergés, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “This new generation of engineers will not only be able to master AI tools but to recognize how they can leverage engineering domain knowledge to extend them to be more practical and powerful.”
The program — first of its kind in the nation — trains them to truly integrate AI solutions into practical solutions to Civil and Environmental Engineering problems — capabilities/talent that are currently not addressed by either computer science or traditional engineering disciplines alone. “This program is unique in that it acknowledges the fact that engineers in the future will need to make use of and develop innovations in AI as part of their toolbox when formulating solutions to the problems they face,” says Bergés.
MS AIE core courses cover the fundamentals of machine learning along with the systems and toolchains needed to work with AI systems. “Aside from those fundamentals, students can choose from a broad set of elective courses and a capstone project course that allow them to concentrate on specific sub-disciplines of civil and environmental engineering and learn to leverage AI solutions in these contexts,” says Bergés. The program also teaches students to embrace the ethics or policy considerations which are crucial in solutions-driven fields like engineering.
As MS AIE graduates, they are set to have the upper hand when they apply for high-demand careers within the Civil and Environmental Engineering field. “With these skills, graduates would be able to pursue innovative career paths in areas such as intelligent transportation systems, structural health monitoring, facilities management and environmental data analysis, to name a few,” says Bergés. More specific examples of industry positions in these fields include advanced analytics research scientist, deep learning research engineer, senior 3D process engineer, and senior bioinformatics quality engineer.