Technology and Society

Technology shapes every facet of modern life. Familiarity with the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of current and emerging technologies is indispensable to wise and effective decisions and practices in government, business and personal life. At all levels and in all disciplines, careers in industry, government and education ever more turn on the ability to see and seize the opportunities, and address the problems, that technology often presents. Technological developments are indeed re-defining these very careers, and changing the workplace itself.

Managing modern technologies calls upon a synthesis of tools drawn from many areas: science and engineering, computers and information, economics and regulation, psychology and community values, design and assessment. The Master’s Degree in Technological Systems Management provides professionals in all fields, and persons planning such careers, with state-of-the-art concepts, analytical tools and practical skills for managing specific technological systems and improving their performance. Students may pursue one of these areas of concentrations: Educational Technology,

Energy and Environmental Systems, or Global Operations Management. Students take a common core of 6 credits, a block of 15 credits specific to their concentration, and 9 credits of electives. A master’s project also must be completed by students in the Energy and Environmental Systems and Educational Technology concentrations.

A deep understanding of the technology and a broad knowledge of the social implications of technology are essential to identifying, understanding, and addressing a growing number of complex issues facing our society. The Ph.D. program in Technology, Policy, and Innovation (TPI) is at the forefront of current and emerging efforts in science and engineering education that aim to address these challenges. The Ph.D. degree in TPI is for students who wish to be engines of national leadership in gauging the prospects and charting the future course of technologies. Students in this program will carry out policy and design/planning research in three interacting socio-technological areas: energy and environmental systems; education (including educational technologies, and education in engineering and applied sciences); technology management, engineering entrepreneurship, and science and technology policy. TPI equips its doctoral graduates with skills that may be applied to careers in both the public and private sectors. The graduates will find strong needs for their skills—and job opportunities—in government agencies, think-tanks and research organizations, industries and consulting firms, and academia, both in the United States and overseas.

Advanced Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology
The Certificate prepares current and prospective teachers to use advanced technologies in learning and teaching, and helps business and industrial trainers and educators develop and teach computer applications, multimedia technologies and computer-based documentation. Students elect either the school track or the business/industry track.