Student Experience
The EST&P professional master’s program is home to an exceptional group of students. Learn more about their experiences and how the EST&P program helped to shape the next chapter of their lives.
EST&P Program and Career Guide
Shashank Donthi (MS '14) created the EST&P Program and Career Guide, a student's perspective on the CMU academic experience, EST&P degree options, internship opportunities, cost of education, disciplinary concentration selection, professional development, and job search techniques.
Varun Deshpande
Bio
Hometown: Mumbai, India
Concentration: Engineering & Public Policy
"Looking at the trisected structure of core courses, disciplinary concentration & breadth electives immediately gave me a sense of flexibility that most other programs lacked. It seemed liked the apt program to allow customization to the skillsets I was interested in mastering at the same time allowing me to broaden my scope.
Evelyn Fairman (MS '15)
Bio
Hometown: Bangor, Maine, USA
Concentration: Chemical Engineering
Through the program, Evelyn gained exposure to the intricacies of the energy sector, while before joining the program she could not wrap her head around the problems in the energy sector, but soon gained a “good dose of reality."
DeVynne Farquharson (MS ’14)
Bio
Hometown: Clairton, Pennsylvania, USA
Concentration: Engineering & Public Policy
When he began the coursework forthe EST&P program, he was surprised by the openness of the faculty, particularly Dr. Paulina Jaramillo and Dr. Costa Samaras. He found the willingness of these professors to discuss topics and to help their students outside of the classroom to be the most valuable part of his experience in the EST&P program.
Janak Gahlot (MS '14)
Bio
Hometown: Delhi, India
Concentration: Electrical & Computer Engineering
This program offers a challenging academic curriculum in a setting that fosters idea-sharing and collegiality among the program participants and faculty. Also, the great academic environment, expert teaching and research as well as entrepreneurial thinking promoted by Carnegie Mellon have been the most valuable part of my experience here.”
Yogi Venkata Gopalan (MS '14)
Bio
Hometown: Chennai, India
Concentration: Electrical & Computer Engineering
"One project that he worked on... was focused on building hardware to control all the systems installed in a building: lighting, heating, window shades, etc. Several spinoff companies have formed as a result of this project, and this topic has truly resonated with him."
Xi “Lucius” Liu (MS '14)
Bio
Hometown: Guangzhou, China
Concentration: Materials Science & Engineering
Lucius could take Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) courses in addition to his Material Science disciplinary concentration classes, he could participate in research projects under the supervision of engineering faculty, and he even had enough free time to join the Chinese Students & Scholars Association (CSSA)!
Jake McIlvaine (MS '15)
Bio
Hometown: Wadsworth, Ohio, USA
Concentration: Engineering & Public Policy
Jake enjoyed that the program offered “more application of energy concepts, and included policy implications”
Uros Simović
Bio
Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia
Concentration: Engineering & Public Policy
"We are a small and tight community. We are there for each other. The administrative staff and EST&P core faculty are wonderful people who are there for you all the time, be it academic related or you need an advice on which restaurant has the best beer selection.”
Ashish Sreedhar (MS '16)
Bio
Hometown: Banglore, India
Concentration: Mechanical Engineering
"EST&P as promised, covered all aspects of energy and gave its students a base to build upon”
Akanksha Tyagi
Bio
Hometown: Hong Kong
Concentration: Engineering & Public Policy
Akanksha feels the structure and flexibility offered by the program is the most beneficial, especially if an incoming student has some industry experience or knows what path they want to pursue in the energy space.
