In addition to drawing on the expertise of faculty in the Department of Technology and Society, the Ph.D. program is supported by more than 20 affiliated faculty members from throughout the Stony Brook campus. Students in the Ph.D. program will work in one or more of three areas:
There are a limited number of similar doctoral programs in the world. The most successful ones include the Engineering and Public Policy Program (EPP) at Carnegie Mellon University, the Technology and Policy Program (Ph.D. in Technology, Management, and Policy) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, and Systems Engineering and Policy Analysis Program at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Among the technology and policy programs, TPI is the only program that includes educational technology and education in engineering and applied sciences among the technology-policy areas.
Modern management's approach to quality has changed radically in the last 20 years; this course explains why and how. It covers methods used by both manufacturing and service organizations to achieve high quality: how each organizational function is involved in quality; how improving quality can reduce costs; importance of communication; importance of involving all employees; need to measure quality; and introduction to statistical quality control and how it is used.
This course provides students with frameworks and models for analysis of issues at the intersection of science, technology and public policy, and business strategy; and helps students develop skills to work on policy issues that require deep understanding of the technical details. Topics include utility/profit maximization theory, its limitations and alternative theories, business and government interactions, technology innovation and managements, policy process (agenda setting, problem definition, framing the terms of debate, formulation and analysis of options, evaluation of policy outcomes). Cases drawn from energy and environmental policy, educational technology, STEM education will be used to illustrate stakeholders and their value structures, high levels of uncertainty, multiple levels of complexity, and their influence on policy intervention. This course emphasizes quantitative policy analysis methods, and critical thinking.
