VOLUME 12, NO. 1     JUNE 1998

Doctoral program integrates three disciplines

he Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department has joined with four other departments to establish the new Management, Environmental, International (MEI) doctoral option. The interdisciplinary program, supported by a five-year, $562,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, is designed to educate individuals who will not only be technically competent but will be skilled in the management of technology, environmental responsibility, and problems associated with international competitiveness.

CEE Professor James O'Shaughnessy is the principal investigator. Co-investigators are professors William Durgin (Mechanical Engineering), Richard Sisson (Materials Science and Engineering), Robert Thompson (Chemical Engineering), and associate professors Michael Elmes and Sharon Johnson (Management).

Three students are currently studying for MEI doctorates. "The program is establishing a number of new industry collaborations," says O'Shaughnessy. "Initial response from the business community and from potential students has been very favorable and we hope to expand our active student base to between 10 and 25 individuals."

---