Carnegie Mellon University
AC-4: Graduate Program

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) is a post-professional, two-year program that prepares graduates for careers in urbanism using design, research and community engagement to critically address contemporary societal and environmental challenges and build more equitable and regenerative cities.

The Master of Urban Design (MUD) program is committed to leveraging design and research in the service of social and environmental justice. We educate future leaders to expand the agency of the urban design field in addressing pressing contemporary challenges. Our focus on community-led urban transformations encourages students to be more ambitious in envisioning socio-ecological change, while fostering humility in their approach to achieving it. Through critical reflection on contemporary urban conditions, students are introduced to a situated spatial practice that is historically informed, theoretically sharp and politically engaged. They work in transdisciplinary teams at the intersection of the arts, humanities and technology, collaborating across departments at Carnegie Mellon. Students integrate new tools and techniques for representing, understanding and designing cities. 

The Master of Science in Sustainable Design (MSSD) is a post-professional, design-research program that fosters innovative sustainable strategies for designing the built environment across scales. The program’s interdisciplinary thinking and technical expertise empower the creative fusion of design agency with evidence-based practices, positioning architecture as a vehicle for environmental stewardship.

The MSSD program advances design methodologies that integrate multicultural and geospatial aspects of ecological thinking, focusing on addressing architectural responses to climate change. It incorporates dynamic bioclimatic processes into the design of constructed environments, guiding students to explore climate-specific socio-ecological placemaking through computational design, environmental science, material research and advanced manufacturing. The program emphasizes the relationship between historical patterns and new technologies, constructed and natural systems, the symbiosis of human and non-human environments, energy systems and human-centered design, regenerative landscapes and circular economies, bio-based material production, and the integration of architectural assemblies. The goal is to cultivate actionable decarbonization expertise and understand the holistic ecological impact of design and construction.

Carnegie Mellon’s Master of Science in Building Performance & Diagnostics (MSBPD) and PhD in Building Performance & Diagnostics (PhD-BPD) are top-ranked building science degree programs dedicated to advancing high performance buildings and communities for a more resilient and sustainable future.

The BPD programs are founded on the premise that the integrated design of building and community systems is critical for environmental sustainability and human health and productivity. The Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics (CBPD) conducts research for international governments and industries on: high performance building system design and operations; the office, school, healthcare, and urban settings of the future; design for climate, energy, resource conservation, health and productivity; environmental assessment and post occupancy evaluation feedback for design and operation; and the financial, natural, and human capital benefits of investing in high performance built environments.

MS Civil and Environmental Engineering
https://cee.engineering.cmu.edu/education/graduate/ms-programs/ms-cee.html

MS Energy, Science, Technology and Policy
https://www.cmu.edu/engineering/estp/degree-programs/index.html 

MS & PhD Architecture-Engineering-Construction Management
https://www.architecture.cmu.edu/aecm 

The PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering program offers an unparalleled opportunity to delve into the complexities of our modern world, tackling critical challenges in infrastructure, sustainability, and environmental stewardship. Students have the unique opportunity to specialize in one of four concentration areas:

Intelligent engineered systems and society (IESS)
https://cee.engineering.cmu.edu/research/iess 

Climate resilient environmental systems and technologies (CREST)
https://cee.engineering.cmu.edu/research/crest 

Sustainable energy and transportation systems (SETS)
https://cee.engineering.cmu.edu/research/sets 

Mechanics, chemistry, and materials (MCM)
https://cee.engineering.cmu.edu/research/mcm