The College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has announced a new partnership with the College of Engineering and Architecture at historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. This partnership will cover a wide range of initiatives between the two institutions, including a dual-degree Ph.D. program that will allow students to earn a doctoral degree from both schools.
Under the plan, student will have to apply and be accepted to doctoral programs in engineering at each institution. They can apply to programs in different engineering disciplines. Students will spend at least three academic semesters at each institution and have an academic adviser on each campus. Students will have access to a greater number of courses, a larger set of research facilities and a wider research community located in both Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Students will be required to write and defend just one dissertation.
The partnership will establish a bridge program to provide eligible undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in research at the other institution over the summer. The program will also include coaching for those students transitioning into the dual-degree Ph.D. program, as well as professional development programs.
Achille Messac, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture at Howard University, stated that “the clear opportunities presented by this new partnership constitute yet another outstanding example of what we can and will continue to accomplish as a college.”
Dr. Messac became dean at Howard University in 2016. Earlier, he was dean of engineering and professor of aerospace engineering at Mississippi State University and chair of the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Syracuse University in New York. Dr. Messac holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, all from the department of aeronautical and astronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
