Title: Systems engineering professional doctorate to educate defence engineering leadership

Authors: Timothy L.J. Ferris

Addresses: Defence and Systems Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Blvd, Mawson Lakes 5095, Australia

Abstract: Doctoral degrees have been structured, traditionally, as PhDs with emphasis on training the candidate to perform research into topics relevant to the discipline. Professional doctorates were developed to provide doctoral level education to enable their graduates to practice in their field with exceptional competence. In engineering the idea of professional doctorates is relatively new, and has been heavily influenced by the concept of the research embodied in engineering PhDs, with the degree structure modified to include substantial coursework. This paper describes the professional doctorate in engineering offered at the University of South Australia, in particular showing the application of an approach to professional practice which is itself research.

Keywords: professional doctorates; research methods; engineering leadership; engineering education; engineering doctorates; defence engineering; systems engineering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIDSS.2009.030582

International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems, 2009 Vol.2 No.3, pp.171 - 183

Published online: 24 Dec 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article