Center for the Study & Improvement of Regulation Overview

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Prospective Students Current Students Faculty & Staff Alumni Companies Media Parents & Visitors Global Education	Center for the Study & Improvement of Regulation Overview The Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation (cSIR) is a joint research center in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and the Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication at the University of Washington. Our primary interests are the interrelationships between emerging technologies and regulations in the areas of environment, health, and safety. Because our researchers are quantitatively trained in engineering and other hard sciences, the center has a comparative advantage in understanding and evaluating regulations with significant technological components. Research Objectives Facilitate the use of scientific information and methods in the regulatory process Develop decision tools for addressing risk and uncertainty in the regulatory process Understand risk perceptions and effective risk communication Examine how stakeholder involvement shapes the regulatory process and influences regulatory outcomes Current Research Activities Following is our blueprint for the study and improvement of U.S. environmental health and safety regulation. System Performance: What do stakeholders believe are the attributes of good regulatory system? How can risks across endpoints, media, and complex mixtures be combined into indexes of harm? Organizations and Behavior: What have been stakeholder strategies for surface water pollution control? What is the role of science in EPA's sectorial and place-based approaches to regulation? How can compliance decisions be represented as a financial option? What are lessons from European regulatory experience? Organizations and Behavior: What have been stakeholder strategies for surface water pollution control? What is the role of science in EPA's sectorial and place-based approaches to regulation? How can compliance decisions be represented as a financial option? What are lessons from European regulatory experience? Regulatory Design: Do Congressional requirements for benefit-cost analysis improve regulatory performance? How can engineering design principles be applied to regulatory design? How can performance codes be applied to fire protection for buildings? Can a carbon emissions trading regime be designed that starts regionally and expands globally? What are methods to balance the objectives of efficiency, equity, and science? Tool Development: How can new methods of screening best be applied to untested chemicals in use? How can methods for risk communication, risk ranking, and value elicitation be improved? How can tools for life-cycle analysis best be applied in the promotion of environmental quality?		Hot Topics Identity Theft: The $500 Billion Criminal Enterprise CyLab Distinguished Fellow Richard Power discussed identity theft as part of a Booz Allen expert panel for Federal News Radio 1500. Listen to Power and his fellow panel members examine the theme: "Identity Theft: The $500 Billion Criminal Enterprise." Moving Bits Instead of Atoms Research by CEE Profs Matthews and Weber was cited in a Forbes article on why spending more energy in data centers can save energy in overall consumption by using IT (bits) rather than moving people and objects (atoms). Also, watch the video of ECE Prof. Ganger talk about how CMU makes our data center as efficient as possible. Academia's Role in Securing Cyberspace Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon talks with Educause Review about his role on the Homeland Security Advisory Council, U.S. policy on cybersecurity, and the role of universities in addressing the need for cybersecurity. How Pittsburgh Bounced Back Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon describes in this CNN commentary how Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh have been drivers of "Pittsburgh's renaissance" and how other cities around the world can leverage the resources of research universities to stimulate economic growth. Gecko Toes Inspire Company Earlier this year, MechE Professor Metin Sitti launched the startup nanoGriptech LLC to commercialize his research findings on the adhesive properties of gecko toes. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review featured the early growth of the company and the research it is based on. Studying the Earth from the Air CEE Ph.D. student Daniel Tkacik was featured by NPR for his participation in NASA's Student Airborne Research Program (SARP), a six-week session aboard a DC-8 flying laboratory. NPR followed Tkacik and his cohort as they collected data on a flight over California. Read or listen to the NPR coverage.



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