Technology Management Ph.D.

The program will admit both full and part-time students. For all students, the program must be completed within a maximum of seven calendar years. If a student requires more than seven years, he/she must file a letter of appeal requesting a time extension to the Dean of the SOE and the Ph.D. in Technology Management program director. A Ph.D. student (part-time or full-time) is expected to devote the necessary time to courses and research in order to make satisfactory progress toward the degree. Satisfactory progress includes active personal participation in the research and teaching environment of the School of Engineering. The student advisor and dissertation committee should advise the student as to his/her progress in the program. Full time students are required to register for at least nine credit hours each semester while part-time students are required to register for at least six credit hours per academic year (spring and fall semesters).

A Ph.D. candidate must complete at least 30 credit hours of course work, not including the dissertation, beyond the master’s degree. Upper level undergraduate remedial courses cannot be used to fulfill the coursework requirement. The Ph.D. dissertation will require a minimum of 15 credit hours to complete.

A Ph.D. student is expected to maintain a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0. If the GPA falls below the required 3.0, the student is automatically placed on probation. (note: grades for transferred courses are not included in the calculation of the University of Bridgeport GPA.). Continued probationary status for two semesters will lead to dismissal of the student from the program. No grade less than “C” is acceptable towards the course work requirement.

* Students admitted to the Ph.D. program should have a business or management degree as well as an engineering, computer science or technology degree. To be more specific, a student should have either: (1) An undergraduate Engineering or Technology (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics category) degree and an MBA or MS in Technology Management or Engineering Management or Management of Technology (MOT) or equivalent graduate degree; or (2) an undergraduate Business or Management or TM or MOT or equivalent degree and a master’s degree in Engineering, Technology or STEM.

** Area 1 - New Technology Venture Creation and Area 2 - Select Current & Emerging Technologies (see Ph.D. Program Structure for additional requirements and areas)

Every student enrolled in the Ph.D. in Technology Management degree program must take a candidacy examination administered by the program director and the graduate faculty. The candidacy exam aims at assessing the capability of the student conducting doctoral research based on evidence of critical thinking, problem solving, conducting original research and other measures viewed as essential functions of a successful doctoral student. When a student passes the candidacy examination and fulfills all other requirements, s/he will be admitted to Ph.D. candidacy.

The student is expected to work on the approved topic and produce original results. S/he must report the results in the form of the Ph.D. dissertation. The student is encouraged to document the intermediate results in the form of technical reports. S/he is also encouraged to publish these results as they are discovered, in international professional literature, i.e., refereed conference proceedings and journals. Proof of good work is the acceptance of the results by reputed journals. Intermediate results can also be discussed in departmental seminars. The completed dissertation must be distributed to the dissertation committee members at least two weeks prior to the dissertation defense. The committee will read and certify that the dissertation is a work of substantial merit and that it can be defended.

It is the responsibility of the student that the final draft of the dissertation addresses all legitimate concerns of the committee members.

After successfully passing the required candidacy examinations and selecting a dissertation adviser, the student is required to define a problem of intellectual merit, carry out a literature search and prepare a course of action to solve the selected problem.

The candidate is expected to produce a dissertation proposal. The Ph.D. program director, in consultation with the dissertation adviser and the student, recommends a dissertation committee for the student.

1. The supervising professor and at least two members of the dissertation committee must be from a professorial rank within the Department of Technology Management. At least half the members of the dissertation committee must be from a professorial rank within the School of Engineering.
2. Dissertation committees consist of a minimum of five faculty members including the external examiner.
3. The external examiner is a member who has been distinguished in the field of technology management and engineering.

Ph.D. program director sends copies of the completed signed form to: student, student’s file, supervising professor, Ph.D. in Technology Management program director and the Dean of the School of Engineering.

The Ph.D. in Technology Management program director and the Dean of the School of Engineering must both approve the dissertation committee.

After securing approval from the dissertation committee members regarding the worthiness of the dissertation, a student will proceed with a request for the dissertation defense examination. The chair of the dissertation committee will chair the examination. The student will schedule a convenient time for a public defense. It is the responsibility of the student to find a time that is suitable to all the members of the dissertation committee, at least two weeks prior to the defense. At the end of the defense, the decision of the dissertation committee will be Pass or Fail. It is the responsibility of the dissertation adviser to see that the comments and the criticisms of the audience are addressed adequately in the final version of the dissertation. Based on the recommendation of the dissertation committee, the Ph.D. in Technology Management program director and the Dean of the School of Engineering will recommend the Ph.D. degree subject to the satisfaction of all other formal requirements.