Carnegie Mellon University's connections with and involvement in the automobile industry will continue to grow because of the excellence of its programs, a General Motors official said yesterday.

"CMU's technology departments are some of the best in the world and we have used them for computer science, hired their graduates. They also have some of the best digital information technology available of any university in the world," Ralph Szygenda said in a telephone interview. "They certainly have great engineering programs there, too."

Szygenda, a McKeesport native who is GM's group vice president and chief investment officer, will deliver the commencement address for CMU's Master of Information Systems Management and Master of Science in Information Technology programs tomorrow in the Purnell Center For the Arts.

A prime example of CMU's involvement with GM, he said, is the Technical Education Program in which current GM employees can earn a master's degree in engineering or information technology management.

It gives participants the benefit of gaining both business management experience and information technology know-how, he said. GM will have 22 employees who will graduate from the program tomorrow, Szygenda said.

Szygenda is a member of the dean's advisory council for CMU's H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.