The Technology, Management and Policy Program (TMP), established in 1992, is a multidisciplinary doctoral program focusing on research to improve methods in defining and implementing policies for the intelligent use of technology. Currently with 22 doctoral candidates, the Program brings together and coordinates several MIT research centers and educational programs in technology, management and policy issues linked to large-scale systems.
Together with its master's program, the Technology and Policy Program, doctoral program involves over 40 faculty and research staff, US $10 million of annual research funding, and about 200 graduate students. Graduates from this program go on to work for industry or government from Tokyo to Paris to Washington, D.C.
The participants in this Ph.D. Program share a common vision. Each emphasizes dual competency, in a technical area and in management and policy, as the basis for effective design of large-scale systems. Together they are developing a new paradigm of engineering systems planning and design that blends technical expertise with competence in economics, management and policy, to achieve better adaptation of technology to societal goals. A primary purpose of TMP is to diffuse throughout the education and practice in engineering the expertise in systems technology and policy that has been developed in the individual centers involved in the Program.
The centers and laboratories that constitute the Program have each achieved considerable worldwide recognition in their specialized fields over the past 20 years. By working together, they can pursue research on large-scale systems, and establish interdisciplinary curricula, more easily than they could do individually.
The Program's objectives include:
Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development: The name of the CTPID was selected to underscore the important linkages between technology, policy and industrial development. The central objective of the Center is to define these linkages and to develop policy alternatives that meet pressing social concerns.
Center for Construction Research and Education: CCRE was established at MIT in 1982 to: provide a research environment conducive to development and application of innovative construction technologies and management principles; to offer graduate programs in construction engineering and management; and to act as a facilitator and catalyst for improving the productivity and competitiveness of the engineering and construction industry and to enhance its contribution to the economy and society in general.
Center for Transportation Studies: CTS was established in 1973 to develop and coordinate a wide range of transportation-related activity at MIT. It provides a focal point for transportation education, facilitates transportation research, conducts an outreach program to the transportation industry, and encourages a sense of common purpose among the many departments, centers and laboratories involved in transportation at MIT. The interchange of information, ideas and inspiration among the faculty, students and research staff makes it one of the most dynamic centers of activity in the transportation field.
The Materials Systems Laboratory: MSL is internationally recognized for its innovative work on the competitive position of materials and products in automotive, aerospace, electronic and environmental applications. It fosters a unique combination of knowledge of design and production processes used in industry with managerial economics.
Program for Environmental Engineering Education and Research: PEEER explores the relationship between technology and a sustainable environment. This new initiative builds upon MIT's extensive strengths in environmentally oriented education and research activities.
Christopher Wanjek
MIT Reports to the President 1995-96