News - Engineering and Public Policy - College of Engineering

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.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Fischhoff discusses Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause

EPP Professor Baruch Fischhoff talks to WESA about the pause in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and how the tone of the messaging health officials impact the public’s reaction.

Wednesday, April 07, 2021

2021 Moonshot Award

A team of CMU researchers headed by Erica Fuchs has been selected to receive the 2021 CIT Moonshot Award. Their proposal targets the development of intellectual foundations, data, and tools required to identify and support strategic action by governments around technologies critical for ensuring the security, prosperity (including jobs) and welfare (including health, environments and equity) of all citizens.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

CMU and Pitt Launch Center Dedicated to Combating Extremist Hate

A new partnership between Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh will study how extremist hate originates, then develop tools that inhibit hate’s creation, growth and destructive consequences. EPP FORE Systems Professor Lorrie Cranor will serve as co-director for the newly formed Collaboratory Against Hate – Research and Action Center.

Tuesday, March 09, 2021

How Texas electricity regulators can use markets to make the grid more reliable

EPP Visiting Professor Lynne Kiesling and Vernon Smith explore “How electricity regulators can use markets to boost reliability” in a new op-ed for the Dallas Morning News. In the piece, they argue that markets and regulations complement each other in enabling electric system resilience.

Friday, February 26, 2021

Cranor featured in The Guardian

Lorrie Cranor, the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy, and Director of CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS), was recently featured in The Guardian in their piece, The tyranny of passwords — is it time for a rethink?

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Morgan chairing congressional briefing on future of US electrical grid

Hamerschlag University Professor Granger Morgan will chair a briefing by a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee that includes Dean Bill Sanders as they deliver a congressional briefing on “The Future of Electric Power in the U.S.,” followed by a public webinar.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Armanios honored in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EPP Assistant Professor Daniel Armanios' professional and academic career was recognized in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in celebration of Black History Month. During his academic career, Armanios evolved into the highest academically honored undergraduate student in American college and university history.

Friday, February 19, 2021

Apt and Lavin publish op-ed in The Washington Post

EPP Professor Jay Apt and PhD student Luke Lavin published an opinion piece in The Washington Post in response to the widespread power outages in Texas due to the recent cold snap.

Thursday, February 18, 2021

The Risks of Communicating Extreme Climate Forecasts

Apocalypse Now? The all-too-common practice of making climate doomsday forecasts is not just bad science, it’s also a terrible way to communicate important information says CMU's David Rode and Paul Fischbeck.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Carley featured on Yahoo on disinformation

EPP Professor Kathleen Carley was quoted in Yahoo Finance about online disinformation and misinformation. Carley said trusted sources and authorities also need to take a page from the trolls and adversaries spreading disinformation and misinformation to better combat them.

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Fischhoff featured on Stats + Stories

Engineering & Public Policy's Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff was recently featured on the Stats + Stories, a podcast series about the statistics behind the stories and stories behind the statistics. Fischhoff discussed decision making during the pandemic.

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Uber and Lyft increase average vehicle ownership in urban areas

In a recent study published in iScience a team of Carnegie Mellon University researchers led by EPP's Jeremy Michalek shows that on average, transportation network company entry into an urban area increases per-capita vehicle registrations by 0.7%, compared to what they would have been otherwise.

Thursday, January 14, 2021

New publication from Adams, Muller, Robinson, and Sergi

In their recently published paper, Optimizing Emissions Reductions from the U.S. Power Sector for Climate and Health Benefits, EPP alum Brian Sergi, along with EPP professors Peter Adams, Nick Muller, Allen Robinson, and former EPP professor Inês Azevedo, find that climate policy that incorporates health objectives can result in substantial additional benefits by prioritizing emissions reductions in places where health damages are greatest. 

Friday, January 08, 2021

Peter Adams appointed as Thomas Lord Professor of Engineering

Peter Adams, Head and Professor of Engineering and Public Policy and Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been appointed as a Thomas Lord Professor of Engineering. This professorship was endowed to honor an educator whose work has had a profound impact on the university, his or her academic field and society.