Carnegie Mellon University
AC-4: Graduate Program

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) degree is a post-professional, two-­year program that prepares graduates for careers using urban design to critically address environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural issues affecting contemporary urbanization. The studio-­based curriculum allows students to explore design strategies in a variety of scales and settings, from the post-­industrial city to the suburban periphery to the dense global metropolis.

The studio sequence is supported by small-group seminars and workshops to develop the skill sets necessary for an urban designer in the twenty-­first century. Students graduate with a firm grasp of the history, theory and practice that has established urban design as a discipline, as well as skills in cutting-edge media and design methods.

Students take required and elective courses in the School of Architecture and elective courses in other graduate programs at the six other colleges within the university.

CMU's MUD program is both venerable and innovative, shaped by these and other distinctive conditions:

- A strong legacy of participatory urban design. Beginning in 1964, the School of Architecture pioneered the Urban Laboratory concept, wherein students and faculty work in the field and engage with citizens on neighborhood revitalization projects.

- Location in a transformed post-industrial city. Pittsburgh, perhaps the quintessential post-industrial city, has transformed itself since 1985 from a declining economy based on heavy industry to a robust and diverse economy based on technology.

- Active participation in the technological ethos of Carnegie Mellon. Benefiting from Carnegie Mellon’s unique research culture in emerging media and advanced technologies, the Master of Urban Design program redefines socially engaged practice in the 21st century.

MSSD's intensive curriculum is structured as a combination of technical, research oriented, and critical design thinking classes based in the School of Architecture and offered across Carnegie Mellon University. The curriculum stresses the importance and value of total-building performance, large scale ecology, human-centered design, and the integration of design, technology, and natural systems knowledge within the design process. Classes provide both depth and breadth, while the culminating Synthesis Thesis Project allows each individual student the opportunity to narrow his or her research focus to a topic of personal and professional interest. The program welcomes applications from both research and practice-oriented candidates with backgrounds in such areas as architecture, engineering, computer science, landscape architecture, design, and planning.

The Master of Science in Building Performance & Diagnostics (MSBPD) is a two-year program intended for practitioners, researchers, and educators in architecture and the
building industry who wish to be leaders in advanced building technologies and their performance. This is a research-based degree, designed as a stepping stone to PhD-level
education.

Information on Carnegie Mellon's sustainability-focused graduate programs can be found at: https://www.cmu.edu/academics/index.html

PhD Building Performance & Diagnostics
MS Civil and Environmental Engineering
PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering
MS Energy, Science, Technology and Policy
MS Architecture-Engineering-Construction Management
PhD Architecture-Engineering-Construction Management
MS Engineering & Public Policy
PhD Engineering and Public Policy
MS Health Care Policy and Management
MS Public Policy & Management
PhD Public Policy & Management
Masters of Public Management
Masters of Medical Management
MS Information Security Policy & Management
MS Social & Decision Sciences
MS International Relations and Politics
MS Information Technology Strategy
PhD Machine Learning & Public Policy
MS Educational Technology & Applied Learning Science

EESS education and research at Carnegie Mellon involves interdisciplinary inquiry that spans engineering, science, social sciences, and policy. Through courses and research in air quality, water quality, remediation, industrial ecology, sustainable engineering, energy, and nanotechnology, EESS aims to provide skills, analysis tools, and technologies to meet environmental stewardship and sustainability challenges of the 21st Century.

Through service-learning courses, educational and social programs, and consulting and research, faculty and graduate students in Modern Languages seek to learn, grow, and enhance the quality of life in our region by building bridges with local communities and institutions in Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania, and beyond.