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.
This is a course in advanced cost justifications for business and projects. The objective is to give the student a better understanding of what is required to justify, budget, plan and carry out technological projects in industry today. The student will also understand how management decisions are influenced by financial analysis when making budgetary project plans.
Understanding phenomena as "systems" requires some changes in overall analytical approaches, and a new vocabulary. General systems theory concepts such as feedback, stability, tipping point, resilience, recursion, hierarchy, and complexity will be discussed, with regard to complex systems drawn from nature, business, technology, and education. The course will address the use of feedback, information and communication, structure, and cybernetics in the management of complex systems. The role and importance of "agents" in current systems thinking will be emphasized. Students will prepare a study of a complex system and its management incorporating these general concepts.
Will technology transform our cities, making them more livable, efficient, and desirable? Will technology erode our cities, making them more dangerous, chaotic, and insufferable? This course is at the intersection of two trends. First, the world is undergoing a wave of urban growth. Second, the pace of technological change is quickening and, with it, the pace of social change and even social transformation. Course modules will cover technology and society in urban contexts with particular attention to: 1) energy, 2) environments, 3) transportation, and 4) health and human safety (including security). This class will involve trips to sites in New York City, and will involve the use of IT technologies in creative ways to advance our learning.
