Experts Tackle Energy Policies, Laud New Program

The Master of Engineering and Public Policy program creates leaders who understand the social context of their work, and policy analysts who have a real knowledge of engineering sciences.

In the new Kim Engineering building on April 4, public policy, business and engineering experts debated international energy issues in a panel hosted by the new Master of Engineering and Public Policy program.

Topics included the environmental and social impact of energy policy, access to energy sources for developing countries, emerging forms of energy production (including fusion and hydrogen) and many others. The discussion included numerous questions from a very knowledgeable audience.

The new Master of Engineering and Public Policy (MEPP) program is a joint venture of the A. James Clark School of Engineering and the School of Public Policy . Its purpose is to create a new kind of leader—an engineer prepared to join in and lead public policy discussions. The program offers specializations in energy, the environment, national security, infrastructure, development, biotechnology and manufacturing.

	Panelists (l-r) Katherine Sierra, Michael Ramage, and Curtis Bolton. "The program you have here is an important one. Public policy and energy issues are coming more and more to the forefront." Curtis Bolton of the Department of Energy, hailing the new MEPP program and the energy panel.

Panelists included William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering; Katherine Sierra, vice president of infrastructure at the World Bank; Michael Ramage, Chair of the National Research Council report "The Hydrogen Economy" and retired Executive Vice President, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company; and Curtis Bolton, Director of the Next Step Option Program in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Sciences. The Honorable Jacques S. Gansler, University of Maryland Vice President for Research and Professor and Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise, served as moderator.

Published April 6, 2005