Affiliated Research Centers
Scott Institute for Energy Innovation
- How to use the energy we already have far more efficiently.
- How to expand the mix of energy sources in a way that is clean, reliable, affordable and sustainable.
- How to create innovations in energy technologies, regulations and policies.
Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making
Decisions in climate and energy involve multiple factors that differ across the variety of decision-makers, time horizons, and uncertainties that are involved. They range from choosing among the multitude of strategies available to reduce carbon dioxide emissions over the next fifty years to how to decide which marine ecosystems to protect from an increase in the oceans’ pH levels. The center and its graduates will develop and promulgate new and innovative, behaviorally and technically informed insights involving the intersection points between climate and energy. It will also generate methods to frame, analyze, and assist key stakeholders in addressing important decisions regarding climate change and the necessary transformation of the world’s energy system.
The Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making is co-directed by Granger Morgan and Inês Azevedo.
Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center
Core funding for this Center comes from the Electric Power Research Institute, NSF, and the Department of Energy with additional funding from CEIC’s corporate members. CEIC's primary mission is to work with industry, government and other stakeholders to address the strategic problems of the electricity industry. In the process of doing so CEIC is producing a cadre of well-trained researchers, most of who continue to address the industry's problems during their subsequent professional careers. Areas of research include: Markets and Investment; Distributed Energy Resources; Advanced Generation, Transmission, and Environmental Issues; Reliability and Security; and, Demand Response. As of 2015, 56 Ph.D. dissertations have been completed under CEIC, and 26 PhD students are doing their thesis research in CEIC. 29 faculty from 8 CMU departments are affiliated with CEIC.
The Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center (CEIC) is co-directed by Jay Apt and Granger Morgan.
Vehicle Electricification Group
The Vehicle Electrification Group at Carnegie Mellon University was founded by Professor Jeremy Michalek and Professor Jay Whitacre in 2009 to study electrified vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles. The group studies various aspects of electric vehicles, including
- Technology: Vehicle, battery, and electric power systems, design, control and optimization
- Life-cycle: economic, environmental, and energy security implications
- Consumer behavior: technology adoption and driver behavior
- Public policy: policy-relevant technical findings and policy analysis
Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies
Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies (CAPS) strive to be world leaders in science, engineering, and policy covering the full role of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere. The goal of the center's research is to substantially advance the state of knowledge across this spectrum, and to provide both policy-relevant research and to participate directly and actively in the evolution of environmental policy related to particulate matter.
Center for Computational Analysis of Social and Organization Systems
Center for Sustainable Engineering
As the global population grows and standards of living improve, there will be increasing stress on the world's limited resources. Thus engineers of the future will be asked to use the earth's resources more efficiently and produce less waste, while at the same time satisfying an ever-increasing demand for goods and services. To prepare for such challenges, engineers will need to understand the impact of their decisions on built and natural systems, and must be adept at working closely with planners, decision makers, and the general public. the Center for Sustainable Engineering emphasizes these and related issues.
The Center for Sustainable Engineering (CSE) is a partnership among five universities: Syracuse University (lead institution), Arizona State University, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Texas at Austin. Supported by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Center is dedicated to helping engineering professors update their courses and develop new ones to account for rapidly changing world conditions that are transforming the practice of engineering.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Green Design Institute
The Green Design Institute (GDI) at Carnegie Mellon University seeks to conduct, foster, and promote research pertaining to infrastructure and systems growth in the developing world. While adequate infrastructure is a key building block in elevating quality of life and social welfare, it is critical to pursue a balanced development path cognizant of both the returns to investment in systems and the associated environmental and human impacts. Broadly, research at the GDI seeks to find this balance.
The Green Design Institute is directed by Paulina Jaramillo and Nicholas Muller.
Programs in Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Technology
CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory (CUPS)
SUCCEED Program (CEDM)
SUCCEED – the Summer Center for Climate, Energy, and Environmental Decision Making – was founded in 2011 by Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making. SUCCEED includes two programs: a free 5-day summer program for rising 10th and 11th graders and a 2-day workshop for teachers.