News - Engineering and Public Policy - College of Engineering

Thursday, August 04, 2022

Ramteen Sioshansi to join EPP as professor and director of CEIC

In January 2023, Ramteen Sioshansi will join Engineering & Public Policy as a professor and the director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center

Friday, July 29, 2022

EPP Professors Receive 2022 Engineering Faculty Awards

Engineering and Public Policy professors Lorrie Cranor, Baruch Fischhoff, and Deanna Matthews were each selected as 2022 Engineering Faculty Award recipients.

Friday, July 22, 2022

CMU team designs the airports of tomorrow

An interdisciplinary team from Carnegie Mellon University won NASA’s Blue Skies: Airports of Tomorrow competition with their project focused on sustainability and connected autonomy, earning them internships with NASA this upcoming year.

Monday, July 18, 2022

Small Retires After 40 Years of Service

Mitchell Small, H. John Heinz III Professor of Environmental Engineering, has retired after 40 years of commitment and service to the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and Engineering and Public Policy (EPP).

Monday, July 11, 2022

A Critical Window To Align Ml With Climate Change Mitigation

Ph.D. student Priya Donti of Engineering and Public Policy and the Computer Science Department, Assistant Professor Emma Strubell of the Language Technology Institute, and Assistant Professor Lynn Kaack of the Hertie School in Berlin have co-authored a perspective piece in Nature Climate Change outlining a systematic framework for describing the effects of AI on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Friday, July 08, 2022

Cranor featured in The Washington Post

As big tech companies, such as Twitter and Facebook, have recently taken steps to make their privacy policies more digestible for their consumers, experts like Lorrie Cranor argue that understandability isn’t our biggest privacy problem. Being overwhelmed is.

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Rubin retires after 53 years of service

Professor Ed Rubin has transitioned to emeritus professor after 53 years as faculty in engineering and public policy (EPP) and mechanical engineering (MechE). Rubin was a founding member of the program now known as EPP, where he played a key role in creating the undergraduate double major program and curricula.

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Carnegie Mellon Professor Launches ESG Index

Nicholas Muller, the Lester and Judith Lave Professor of Economics, Engineering, and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, created the ESG Index to serve as a credible, reliable source for accurate data on national trends in monetary pollution damage.

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Yenching Scholar Studies the Digital Divide

EPP MS student Andey Ng has been named a 2022 Yenching Scholar by Peking University's Yenching Academy program. Ng will spend her time at the Yenching Academy researching the Digital Divide in how China mitigates Beijing’s socioeconomic stratification after the emergence of tech firms.

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Cranor weighs in on privacy labels

Roughly a year after Apple began requiring privacy labels for new apps in its app store, Google just announced that it will begin doing the same for Android apps. CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor spent the past year studying Apple’s privacy labels and tells The Washington Post that she’d “hoped that we could do better."

Friday, May 13, 2022

Hidden energy poverty revealed by energy equity gap

The energy equity gap provides new metric that captures resident behavior to illustrate the divide in safety and comfort from extreme temperatures across income groups.

Friday, April 15, 2022

Krishnan appointed to the National AI Advisory Committee

Ramayya Krishnan has been appointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce to serve on the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC), which will advise the President and the National AI Initiative Office on a range of issues related to artificial intelligence (AI).

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Fuchs gives testimony before Senate Banking Committee

As Congress heads to conference on the Innovation Act, Professor Erica Fuchs testified on the need for cross-mission critical technology analytics to build a resilient economy.

Tuesday, April 05, 2022

Jaramillo on transportation, IPCC report for policymakers

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Paulina Jaramillo served as coordinating lead author of the transportation section of the newly released IPCC report for climate-policymakers.

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Cranor featured in Consumer Reports on data sharing

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Lorrie Cranor spoke with Consumer Reports addressing concerns about sharing analytics and usage data with tech companies and manufacturers. Cranor said, “I actually think that most of the time, that’s fine, especially if it’s a legitimate company, that is in fact what they’re going to do with the data. But that said, there is a small risk, because the crash report may include sensitive data that’s on your computer.”

Wednesday, March 02, 2022

Williams awarded the Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus Award

Engineering and Public Policy Distinguished Service Professor and ETIM Director Dr. Jimmy Williams has been awarded the Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Texas A&M Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor bestowed upon a former student of Texas A&M University and recognizes Aggies who have achieved excellence in their chosen professions and made meaningful contributions to Texas A&M University and their local communities.

Monday, February 28, 2022

Morgan joins 60 Minutes to discuss the electric grid's vulnerabilities

Hamerschlag University Professor Granger Morgan was featured on a recent edition of 60 Minutes discussing the United States' electric grid, its vulnerabilities, and future challenges it may face. Morgan argues that the grid needs to become more resilient to stave off vulnerabilities, but without any one organization in charge of the grid's resilience, this could prove to be challenging.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Muller quoted in The Hill on the disparities in the impact of air pollution

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Nicholas Muller was quoted by The Hill on how pollution disproportionately affects certain racial and ethnic groups, especially older Black and Hispanic individuals. “Underlying mortality rates, pollution exposure and pollution vulnerability differ significantly across racial and ethnic groups,” Muller said.

Monday, February 14, 2022

Fuchs quoted in The Telegraph on Moore's Law

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Erica Fuchs was quoted in The Telegraph on Moore’s Law and how the technological innovation crisis threatens global economy. Fuchs says, “Moore’s Law and the inventions that resulted from it have been responsible for up to half of economic growth in the US and worldwide.” That means its slowdown, or eventual end, could have drastic consequences for GDP growth.

Friday, February 04, 2022

Bohman awarded Presidential Fellowship

Engineering and Public Policy PhD student Angelena Bohman has been selected as a recipient of a Presidential Fellowship in the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. The Presidential Fellowship Program provides financial support to recruit and retain outstanding graduate students.

Monday, January 31, 2022

Equity issues central for getting household electrification right 'for everybody'

Engineering and Public Policy Assistant Professor Destenie Nock spoke with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about energy equity. In Nock's view, despite the promise of savings, equity issues will make it a challenge for the most energy-burdened households to take advantage of a movement toward heating more houses with electric power.

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Krishnan and Fischhoff named 2021 AAAS Fellows

William W. and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems Ramayya Krishnan and Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff were named 2021 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This lifetime distinction includes 564 scientists, engineers and innovators in 24 scientific disciplines.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Michalek quoted in The New York Times

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Jeremy Michalek was quoted in The New York Times on charging solutions for electronic vehicles (EV). One of the biggest challenges facing EVs is reliable charging, and some are pointing towards inroad charging as a solution. Michalek explains that inroad charging while driving is not likely to be a broad solution for all electric vehicles, but it could be promising for long-haul trucks and other commercial vehicles.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Transit inequity increased during pandemic

Preliminary results from a study of Allegheny County’s public busses conducted by EPP Assistant Professor Destenie Nock, PhD student Lily Hanig, and CEE Assistant Professor Corey Harper, finds transit inequity directly contributes to higher infection rates among members of low-income and ethnic minority groups.

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Senior Greta Markey Earns Marshall Scholarship

CEE/EPP senior Greta Markey (BS '22) has been named a recipient of the highly competitive Marshall Scholarship, which is awarded to less than 50 Americans each year to fund graduate education in the United Kingdom. She is the fifth CMU student to receive the award since 1955.

Monday, December 06, 2021

Christin featured in Bloomberg on cryptocurrency regulation

Engineering and Public Policy Associate Professor Nicolas Christin was featured in Bloomberg in their article, The Fight to Control the $2 Trillion Crypto Market Is Heating Up. “The question,” says Christin, “is whether a lot of retail-level folks engaging in these markets are actually equipped to judge the risks rationally, as opposed to engaging in gambling-like behavior.”

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Jaramillo to join Andrew Carnegie Fellows Forum on climate action

On Wednesday, December 8, Engineering and Public Policy’s Professor Paulina Jaramillo will join fellow Andrew Carnegie Fellows and the Carnegie Corporation for a virtual panel discussion on climate change. The discussion will address complex considerations highlighted by the recent 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), including the human impact of climate change, new technologies to address it, and global energy needs.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Giving CMU Day

Today is Giving CMU Day! Show your Carnegie Mellon pride and unite with the CMU community to make your gift to a student organization, fellowship, scholarship, research initiative, school or department, or the area that is most meaningful to you. Your gift will have an immediate impact on thousands of CMU students, faculty and staff around the world. Let's make this year the most successful #GivingCMUDay yet.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Professor Costa Samaras to Serve in Biden-Harris Administration in White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Carnegie Mellon University’s Professor Costa Samaras has been selected to serve in the Biden-Harris Administration in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). He will serve as Principal Assistant Director for Energy and OSTP Chief Advisor for Energy Policy in OSTP’s first-ever Energy Division.

Monday, November 15, 2021

Transformative Opportunities in Transportation

Chris Hendrickson, director of the Traffic21 Institute at CMU and chair of the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board Division Committee, just published a perspective piece about Transformative Opportunities in Transportation. "The next few decades can transform transportation if we seize the opportunities available from new processes and technology."

Tuesday, November 09, 2021

Markey and Thompson Named Andrew Carnegie Scholars

CEE/EPP seniors Greta Markey and Andrew Thompson were named Andrew Carnegie Scholars, embodying Carnegie Mellon's high standards of academic excellence, volunteerism, leadership, and involvement in extracurricular activities.

Thursday, November 04, 2021

Pesner's paper recognized in JSPG Policy Position Paper Competition

Engineering and Public Policy Ph.D. student Jeremy Pesner has been recognized for his paper, “Ensuring Social Impact at Every Stage of Technology Research & Development.” He received third place in The Journal of Science Policy & Governance - JSPG Policy Position Paper Competition. His work is part of a special issue focused on shaping the future of science policy.

Friday, October 29, 2021

Team builds tools, innovations to support federal investment

With major investments in infrastructure and innovation pending, a multi-disciplinary initiative led by Engineering and Public Policy's Erica Fuchs is building the tools and innovations to inform government decisions.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Universities Should Set the Standard in COVID-19 Data Reporting

In a new paper in Issues, Engineering and Public Policy Ph.D. student Elina Hoffman, Associate Professor Valerie Karplus, and Professor Erica Fuchs argue that university reporting of COVID-19 testing data has been insufficient. “To understand how the novel coronavirus behaves and how it is spread, universities should voluntarily adopt formal, rigorous standards for gathering and reporting COVID-19 test data.”

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Michalek’s research featured in Bloomberg

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Jeremy Michalek’s research on the environmental impacts of switching from private vehicle travel to ride-sharing services was recently featured in Bloomberg. “By avoiding starting up your personal vehicle, you’re avoiding some air pollutants when you take a TNC trip, but that’s not enough to make up for all the driving to and from passengers that vehicle is doing.”

Friday, October 15, 2021

Amaral's paper considered Highly Commended by The University of Cambridge

Engineering and Public Policy Doctoral Student Afonso Amaral's recent paper, "National core competencies and dynamic capabilities in times of crisis - Regulation of ventilators and new market entrants in Portugal versus Spain," has been considered Highly Commended by the 2021 Babbage Industrial Innovation Policy Awards by the Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy department at the University of Cambridge.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Fireside chat with Ernie Moniz and Valerie Karplus

Join the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation on October 14th at CMU for a Fireside Chat featuring Ernie Moniz, EFI, and EPP's Valerie Karplus as they discuss the U.S.'s low carbon energy transition, with a special focus around their collaboration on the Roosevelt Plan.

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

New tool for energy sector models carbon capture incentives

A new model from a team of CMU researchers, including EPP Doctoral Candidate Jeffery Anderson and Professor Paul Fischbeck, shows utilities and policymakers how technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be used to reduce CO2 emissions from existing and new power plants while minimizing costs.

Friday, October 08, 2021

From engineering to law

Engineering and Public Policy Alumnus Steve Fulton and his wife, Carol, are giving back to Carnegie Mellon University’s new Scaife Hall to encourage engineering students to embrace the power of dialogue.

Thursday, October 07, 2021

Fischhoff authors piece on the Covid communication breakdown

In a recently published article in Foreign Affairs, Engineering and Public Policy Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff discusses the Covid communication breakdown and how to fix public health messaging. Fischhoff says that, “the best way to counter pervasive misinformation is with better information.”

Friday, October 01, 2021

Donti named a 2022 Siebel Scholar

Engineering and Public Policy Ph.D. student Priya Donti has been named a 2022 Siebel Scholar. Siebel Scholars recognizes the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business, computer science, bioengineering, and energy science.

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Allen Robinson named new director of CMU-Africa

Allen Robinson has been named the next director of CMU-Africa, effective January 1, 2022. In his new role, Robinson will also serve as the College of Engineering’s Associate Dean for International Programs in Africa.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Jaramillo placing new tool in energy planners’ hands

Engineering and Public Policy Professor Paulina Jaramillo led a team working with utility planners, operators, and regulators to prepare our energy system for the effects of climate change.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Cranor featured in Bloomberg article on tracking

Engineering and Public Policy FORE Systems Professor Lorrie Cranor was featured in the Bloomberg article, The Case Against Tracking Your Kid’s Phone. In the article, Cranor asks, “Does this software actually keep our kids safer?" And, “if it doesn’t keep them safer, then why are we doing this?”

Thursday, September 23, 2021

An urgent plan to decarbonize electricity by 2035

In an opinion piece in The Hill, Engineering and Public Policy Professors Jay Apt and Granger Morgan outline what is needed in order to achieve the Biden administration’s goal of completely decarbonizing the U.S. electricity system by 2035.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

What a National Technology Strategy Is—and Why the United States Needs One

To compete in the 21st century, the US needs a nimble agency to catalyze technological innovation that delivers security, prosperity, jobs, and health for all citizens. In a new piece in Issues in Science and Technology, Engineering and Public Policy Professor Erica Fuchs maps out what is a National Technology Strategy, and why the U.S. needs one.

Thursday, September 09, 2021

Samaras featured in The New York Times

Research from Engineering and Public Policy Courtesy Professor Costa Samaras was recently featured in an opinion piece published by The New York Times. The article discusses whether the widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) will be enough to help solve the problem of climate change.

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Fischhoff awarded Sigma Xi William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement

Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff has been named the recipient of the 2021 Sigma Xi William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement. The Procter prize has been awarded since 1950 to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to scientific research and has demonstrated an ability to communicate the significance of this research to scientists in other disciplines.

Monday, August 16, 2021

Armanios and Nock to take part in The Academic Minute

Engineering and Public Policy Associate Professor Daniel Armanios and Assistant Professor Destenie Nock will be featured on the nationally syndicated radio show The Academic Minute as part of Carnegie Mellon University's weeklong takeover of the program.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Fighting Vaccine Hesitancy: What Can We Learn From Social Science?

Following a webinar on the recent rapid report consultations from NASEM, Professor Baruch Fischhoff and Emily K. Brunson, associate professor at Texas State University, take questions regarding vaccine hesitancy and communication surrounding vaccine efficacy, and offer insights from their own research and experience.

Wednesday, August 04, 2021

VanBriesen Named Division Director of the National Science Foundation's CBET

Jeanne M. VanBriesen, who serves as the Duquesne Light Company Professor in the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, has been appointed to lead the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Tuesday, August 03, 2021

Michalek selected to serve on NASEM committee

Engineering & Public Policy Professor Jeremy Michalek has been selected by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to serve on the committee working on current methods for life cycle analyses of low-carbon transportation fuels in the United States.

Friday, July 30, 2021

Detecting depression and partner violence risk during pregnancy

Engineering & Public Policy researchers are using language processing on diary entries from birthgiving parents in the perinatal period to detect and identify possible risk indicators for depression and intimate partner violence.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Rubin receives David P. Casasent Outstanding Research Award

Engineering & Public Policy Professor Ed Rubin has been awarded the 2021 David P. Casasent Outstanding Research Award. The award recognizes a CIT faculty member whose exceptional research contribution has enhanced CIT’s reputation globally and has received significant recognition from experts in the field.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Muller's research featured in WESA

Lester and Judith Lave Professor Nicholas Muller’s recent research was featured by WESA in their article on Muller’s proposed “green interest rate.” In his recently released working paper, On the Green Interest Rate, Muller notes how environmental damage from climate change comes with economic costs.

Thursday, July 01, 2021

SCS Faculty, Ph.D. Student Named to MIT Technology Review’s 2021 Innovators Under 35 List

Virginia Smith, an assistant professor in the Machine Learning Department, and Priya Donti, a Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science and Engineering and Public Policy departments, have been named to MIT Technology Review’s prestigious annual list of Innovators Under 35.

Monday, June 07, 2021

Should ships in India switch to shore power?

A team of Engineering & Public Policy researchers, led by Ph.D. candidate Priyank Lathwal, has answered an important question about the shipping industry for a rapidly modernizing India.

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

What's Left Out of Energy Models? You.

A team of Carnegie Mellon University researchers led by Turner Cotterman, an Engineering and Public Policy (EPP) Ph.D. student, has shown that sustainably decarbonizing our energy system by 2050 will require us to change the way we model energy transitions and account for the role of public opinion.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Air quality–related health damages of food

A new research paper from Nina Domingo and collaborators at University of Minnesota, with collaboration from EPP co-authors Peter Adams, Nick Muller, Spyros Pandis, Allen Robinson, Peter Tschofen and others, that was recently featured in The Washington Post, shows how food production negatively impacts human health by increasing atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and identifies ways to reduce these negative impacts of agriculture.

Friday, May 07, 2021

Improving Cost Estimates For Low-Carbon Technologies

Professor Ed Rubin (EPP/MechE), together with a team of 13 other university, industrial, and governmental collaborators, has co-authored a newly released white paper providing comprehensive guidelines for the cost estimation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other low-carbon technologies that are crucial to combatting climate change.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Fischhoff authors NASEM report on communicating vaccine efficacy and effectiveness

Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff was the lead author on the NASEM rapid expert consultation report, “Understanding and Communicating about COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Equity.” The report's authors offer advice for leaders communicating to the public about vaccine efficacy, effectiveness, and equity.