Carnegie Mellon Engineering

Minor in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability

Concern for the environment now influences a wide range of public, private and engineering decisions. Environmental Engineering is widely recognized as a discipline at the graduate and professional level, and undergraduate training in environmental issues and processes can provide the preparation necessary to pursue this career path, or serve as a useful complement to a career in any of the traditional areas of engineering. Sustainability issues are now considered critical across engineering disciplines. Effective preparation requires broad knowledge and skills in the areas of environmental engineering, sustainability, and environmental policy.

 

Director
Jeanne VanBriesen

 

Faculty Advisors
The Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Program is a focus for faculty members from diverse engineering backgrounds. The faculty are actively engaged in teaching and conducting research in this field.

Current faculty advisors are:

Biomedical Engineering:  Robert Tilton
Chemical Engineering: Neil Donahue
Civil and Environmental Engineering:  Peter Adams and Scott Matthews
Electrical and Computer Engineering: Marija Ilic
Engineering and Public Policy:  Mark Kieler and Edward Rubin
Mechanical Engineering:  Allen Robinson
Materials Science and Engineering:  Paul Salvador and Robert Heard

 

 

Course Requirements
The requirements include two core courses, three technical electives and two policy electives.

A1. Core Courses in Sustainability (12 units).
Select one set of two mini courses from:

19-622 (co-listed as 12-712)    Introduction to Sustainable Engineering
19-623 (co-listed as 12-713)    Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Engineering Design
OR
19-614 (co-listed as 12-714)    Environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Green Design
19-716                                   Advanced Life Cycle Assessment


A2.  Core Courses in Environmental Engineering (9 units).
Select one course from:

12-351                                   Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering (see note 4)
24-424 (co-listed as 19-424)    Energy and the Environment
12-651                                   Air Quality Engineering
24-425                                   Combustion and Air Pollution Control
12-702                                   Fundamentals of Water Quality Engineering
06-620                                   Global Atmospheric Chemistry: Fundamentals
                                             and Data Analysis Methods
 

B. Technical Electives in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability (27 units):
Select three from the following list:

03-121        Modern Biology 
09-106        Modern Chemistry II
09-510        Introduction to Green Chemistry
06-620        Global Atmospheric Chemistry
12-201        Principles of Geology
12-351        Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
12-651        Air Quality Engineering
12-702        Fundamentals of Water Quality Engineering
12-657        Water Resources Engineering
12-658        Hydraulic Structures Design
24-424        Energy and the Environment
24-425        Combustion and Air Pollution Control
19-622        Introduction to Sustainable Engineering* (also
                   listed as 12-712)
19-623        Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Engineering Design*
                  (also listed as 12-713)
19-614        Environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Green Design*
                  (also listed as 12-714)
12-716        Advanced Life Cycle Assessment*
12-718        Sustainable Engineering Project     
19-650        Climate and Energy: Science, Economics, and Public Policy
27-322        Processing of Metals**
27-323        Powder Processing of Materials**
27-421        Processing Design*
27-367        Selection and Performance of Materials*
27-594        Electrochemical Processes in Materials
48-315        Environment I: Climate and Energy
48-415        Advanced Building
48-596        LEED Building and Green Design Concepts
48-569        GIS/CAFM (also listed as 90-784)
48-572        Zero Energy Housing


* 6 unit courses must be combined with 3 additional units


** Students may take either 27-322 Processing of Metals or 27-323 Powder Processing of Metals, but not both as technical electives for list B.

 

C. Policy Electives (18 units)
Select two or more to total 18 units from the following list of humanities/social science oriented courses:

12-608        Implications of Engineering in Global Society
19-448        Science, Technology and Ethics
19-626        Climate Science and Policy
48-567        Sustainable Design and Development
48-576        Mapping Urbanism
66-210        Science, Technology and the Environment
73-248        Environmental Economics
73-357        Regulation: Theory and Policy
73-358        Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources
73-359        Benefit-Cost Analysis
76-319        Environmental Rhetoric
79-278        China's Environmental Crisis
79-289        Energy, Environment, Globalization in the Americas
79-300        Pittsburgh and the Transformation of Modern Urban America (6 unit mini)
79-336        Environmental History and Politics Since Silent Spring
79-372        Cities, Technology, and the Environment
79-383        Epidemic Disease and Public Health
90-762        Perspectives on the City and the Environment
80-242        Conflict and Dispute Resolution
80-244        Environmental Management and Ethics
88-220        Policy Analysis I
88-221        Policy Analysis II
88-223        Decision Analysis and Decision Support Systems
80-340        Environmental Ethics and Decision Processes
99-522        Corporations and Environmental Responsibility
90-747        Cost-Benefit Analysis
90-758        Ethics and Public Policy in a Global Society
90-765        Cities, Technology and the Environment
90-789        Sustainable Community Development
90-798        Environmental Policy and Regulation
90-851        Environmental Policy
90-859        Environmental Conflict Resolution

The following restrictions apply to the minor:

  1. Courses cannot be double-counted for lists A and B.
  2. Courses used to fulfill the first year restricted technical electives for CIT cannot be double counted for list B requirements
  3. A group of three environmental policy courses, from List C, excluding Heinz courses, may be counted as fulfilling the general education depth requirement required of all CIT students. Approval of the selected courses from List C for fulfillment of this CIT depth sequence is required from the student’s home department advisor.
  4. Courses required within a student’s CIT major can be double counted for list A or B course requirements, with the exception that 12-351 Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering can be counted toward completion of the minor for non-CEE students only.
  5. Students may take up to two list B courses in their home department. One list B course must be from outside their home department. EPP double majors should NOT consider EPP their home department. BME double majors should NOT consider BME their home department.
  6. At most ONE 48-xxx course can be used as a List B course and one as a List C course. The 48-xxx courses may not be acceptable as technical electives by some CIT engineering departments.
  7. Other Environmentally related technical electives with similar or related content may be substituted for List B courses only with written permission of the Director.
  8. A list of available courses for the minor in each semester is provided to students who have declared the minor and to all faculty advisors for the minor.