The PhD program in Technology & Operations prepares highly talented and motivated individuals for a successful career in academia.

One of the world's leading technology and operations management departments, we are united in developing our doctoral students in a rigorous yet collaborative academic environment. 

APPLY

Seminars & Webinars

Technology & Operations Doctoral Seminars

The topics covered in each of theses seminars are listed below.

At least one doctoral seminar is offered in each semester, and seminars related to new research topics are always under development. Additional research seminars which include presentations by faculty from other institutions, industry leaders, and our own doctoral students area also held.
 

TO855 Queuing Theory I 

Instructor - Prof. Izak Duenyas

  • Birth-death queues, time reversibility, stochastic orders
  • Jackson networks: Open, closed and semi-open networks
  • Stochastic Comparisons: Likelihood Ratio Ordering
  • Kelly Networks, Quasi Reversibility, PASTA Property
  • Heavy Traffic and Fluid Limits of Queues
     

TO885  Empirical Methods in Operations Management

Instructor - Prof. Jun Li

  • Linear Regression
  • Causality and Instrument Variables
  • Panel Data and Difference-in-Difference
  • Natural Experiments, Field Experiments and Regression Discontinuity Design
  • Count Data and Discrete Choice Models
  • Structural Models

 

TO885 Topics in Global Health Delivery 

Instructor - Prof. Ravi Anupindi

  • Introduction & Forecasting
  • Tiered-Pricing
  • Advance Market Commitments
  • Design and Coordination
  • Randomized Field Experiments
  • Transportation
     

TO885 Topics in Sustainable Supply Chains 

Instructor - Prof. Ravi Anupindi

  • Economic and Legal Views
  • Classical Approaches (Environmental Economics and Industrial Ecology) and Operations Management
  • OM Research (Extended Producers Responsibility)
  • OM Research (Closed Loop Supply Chains)
  • Energy Sustainability
  • Empirical Research
     

TO855 Value of Information & Risk Management 

Instructor - Prof. Roman Kapuscinski

  • Value of Information
  • Value of Information and Effect of Response Time
  • Value of Centralized Systems
  • Bullwhip Effect
  • Risk and Hedging
  • Operations and Financial Constraints
  • Disruption Risks


TO899 Customer Behavior in Operations 

Coordinators: Profs. Roman Kapuscinski and Hyun-soo Ahn

  • Learning and Pricing
  • Basic (Clearance) Sales Model
  • Pricing of Short Life-Cycle Product (Price for Individual Customer)
  • Product Life Cycle and Market Evolution
  • Bundling
  • Advance Selling
  • Distribution Channels
  • Queuing and Price
  • Strategic Consumers
  • Product Line Decision (Product assortment decision.)
  • Switching Costs
  • Promotion


TO899 Experimental Research in Economics, Management and Operations

Instructor - Prof. Stephen Leider

  • Methods, Markets, Game Theory
  • Bargaining, Fairness
  • Reciprocity & Incentives
  • Production (Field Experiments), Social Networks
  • Behavioral Operations, Contracting
  • Risk & Decision Making
  • Biases, Self-Control, Overconfidence


TO899 Learning, Crowds, and Innovation

Instructor - Prof. Mohamed Mostagir

 

  • Bayesian and Non-Bayesian models of social learning
  • Network Pricing
  • Network and social learning in innovation
  • Exploitation vs. Experimentation 
  • New Product Development
  • Innovation Tournaments
  • Crowdsourcing and Ideation


TO899 Revenue Management 

Instructor - Prof. Stefanus Jasin

  • Network Resource Allocation
  • Dynamic Pricing
  • Markdown Pricing
  • Strategic Customers
  • Robust Revenue Management
  • Competitive Revenue Management
  • Auction and Mechanism Design
  • Industry Applications


TO899 Stochastic Resource Allocation and Dynamic Pricing

Instructor - Prof. Hyun-Soo Ahn

  • Single resource capacity control and rationing
  • Theory of Pricing: Part I
  • Theory of Pricing: Part II
  • Multi-product Pricing Strategy
  • Consumer Choice Model
  • Departures from classical demand models: Strategic and Myopic Consumers
  • Departures from classical demand models: Reference Price and Quantity Effect


TO899 Supply Chain Management (Instructor - Prof. Roman Kapuscinski)

  • Inventory Theory
  • Multi-echelon structures
  • VMI and outsourcing
  • Inventory and pricing - centralized
  • Modeling Exchange risk
  • Advanced demand information
  • Proportional yield and uncertain capacity
  • Games, incentives, information
  • Inventory and pricing in decentralized systems
  • Capacity and entry deterrence
  • Substitution
  • Decentralized systems – wholesale price and coordination


TO899 Technology Management (Instructor - Prof. William Lovejoy)

  • Industrial dynamics
  • Strategy, Diversity and Internal Organization
  • Internal Organization (inertia and core competencies)
  • The nature of innovation
  • Organizing for new product innovations
  • Models for information flows and development process capacity
  • R&D project portfolio management
  • Exploration vs Exploitation I: Models for learning at cost
  • Exploration vs Exploitation II: Bandit problems
  • Managing internal knowledge


TO899 Theories of Procurement (Instructor - Prof. Damian Beil)

  • Single source models I: Basic auction theory
  • Single source models II: Mechanism design, Multi-attribute auctions
  • Single source models III: Capacity investments, Auctions with bidder qualification checks
  • Multiple source models I: Split-award contracts, Quantity-flexible contracts
  • Multiple source models II: Entry fees, Repeated sourcing events
  • Competitive bidding and moral hazard
  • Option and spot markets with forward contracts
  • Multiple source models III: Combinatorial auctions, Topology of buyer-seller networks

Technology & Operations Doctoral Accomplishments

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

Feng Tian, Peng Sun, Izak Duenyas "Optimal Contract for Machine Repair and Maintenance", Forthcoming in Operations Research, 2020.

Zhaohui (Zoey) Jiang, Yan Huang, Damian R. Beil.  “The Role of Problem Specification in Crowdsourcing Contests for Design Problems: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis."  Forthcoming in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Special Issue on Sharing Economy and Innovation Marketplaces.

Gabriel Zayas-Caban, Stefanus Jasin, Guihua Wang.  “An Asymptotically Optimal Heuristic for General Non-Stationary Finite-Horizon Restless Multi-Armed Multi-Action Bandits.”  Forthcoming in Journal of Applied Probability, 2019.

Baozhuang Niu, Jiawei Li, Jie Zhang, Hsing Kenneth Cheng, and Yinliang Ricky Tan.  “Strategic Analysis of Dual Sourcing and Dual Channel with an Unreliable Alternative Supplier.”  Production and Operations Management 38, no. 3 (2019): 570-587.

Guihua Wang, Jun Li, Wallace J. Hopp, Franco L. Fazzalari, Steven F. Bolling.  “Using Patient-Specific Quality Information to Unlock Hidden Healthcare Capabilities” Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 21, no.3 (2018): 582-601.

Damian R. Beil, Qi George Chen, Izak Duenyas, and Brendan D. See.  “When to Deploy Test Auctions in Sourcing.”   Manufacturing and Service Operations Management 20, no. 2 (2018): 232-248. 

Evgeny Kagan, Stephen Leider, and William Lovejoy.  “Ideation-Execution Transition in Product Development: An Experimental Analysis.”  Management Science 64, no. 5 (2018): 2238-2262.

Yanzhe Lei, Stefanus Jasin, and Amitabh Sinha.  "Joint Dynamic Pricing and Order Fulfillment for E-Commerce Retailers."  Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 20, no. 2 (2018): 269-284.

Peng Sun and Feng Tian.  “Optimal Contract to Induce Continued Effort.”  Management Science 64, no.9 (2018): 4193-4217.

David D. Lee, Jun Li, Guihua Wang, Kristopher P. Croome, Justin M. Burns, Dana K. Perry, Justin H. Nguyen, Wallace J. Hopp, and Burcin C. Taner.  “Looking Inward: The Impact of Operative Time on Graft Survival After Liver Transplantation.”  Surgery 162, no. 4 (2017): 937-949.

PAPER COMPETITION APPEARANCES

Aravind Govindarajan, "The Distribution-Free Inventory Problem for E-Commerce Fulfillment Networks." Second Place, 2019 POMS College of Supply Chain Management Best Student Paper Competition. Finalist, 2019 POMS-HK Student Paper Competition. Advisor: Joline Unichanco.

Zoey Jiang, "The Role of Feedback in Dynamic Crowdsourcing Contests: A Structural Empirical Analysis ." Finalist, 2019 IBM Service Science Best Student Paper. Advisor: Damian Beil

Lai Wei, "Shipping Consolidation Across Two Warehouses with Delivery Deadline and Expedited Options for E-commerce and Omni-Channel Retailers." Finalist, M&SOM Student Paper Competition, IBM Service Science Section's Student Best Paper Award 2018. Advisors: Stefanus Jasin and Roman Kapuscinski. 

Guihua Wang, "An Instrumental Variable Tree Approach for Detecting Heterogeneous Treatment Effects in Observational Studies." Finalist, INFORMS Service Section Student Paper Competition 2018. Advisors: Jun Li and Wally Hopp. 

Maggie Lee, "Integrating Empirical Estimation and Assortment Personalization for E-commerce: A Consider-then-Choose Model." Finalist, INFORMS MSOM Data Driven Research Challenge 2018. Advisor: Shima Nassiri 

Jacob P Chestnut, "Giving It Away to Increase Profits: Price Discrimination and the Effect of Free Goods." Finalist, POMS College of Healthcare Operations Management Best Student Paper Competition 2017. Advisors: Ravi Anupindi and Hyun-soo Ahn.

Evgeny Kagan, “Ideation-Execution Transition in Product Development: An Experimental Analysis.” Honorable Mention, Behavioral Operations Management Best Working Paper Competition 2017. Advisors: Stephen Leider and William Lovejoy.

Guihua Wang, “Using Patient‐Centric Quality Information to Unlock Hidden Health Care Capabilities.” Finalist, MSOM Student Paper Competition and INFORMS Service Section Best Student Paper Competition 2017.

Guihua Wang, “A causal tree approach for personalized health care outcome analysis.” Finalist, Health Application Society Student Paper Competition 2017.

Yanzhe Lei, “Joint Dynamic Pricing and Order Fulfillment for Ecommerce Retailers.”  Second prize, POMS-HK Best Student Paper Competition 2017. Advisors: Stefanus Jasin and Amitabh Sinha.

Awards

Samer Charbaji : Spivey-Hall Award for Academic Excellence 2020. ​

Maggie Li: Ross China Research Award 2020.

Jiawei Li: Spivey-Hall Award for Academic Excellence 2019. ​

Xinyu Liang: Ross China Research Award 2019.  

Samer Charbaji: Ross Emeritus Award 2019 for Best Second Year Paper, "Enterprise Social Media Platform Design and White collar Productivity".

Mengzhenyu Zhang: Spivey-Hall Award for Academic Excellence 2018; Rachkham Predoctoral Fellowiship Award, 2019. 

Evgeny Kagan: Rackham Pre-Doctoral fellowship 2017; Spivey-Hall Award for Academic Excellence 2017.

Yanzhe Lei: Spivey-Hall Award for Academic Excellence 2017.

Guihua Wang: Rackham Pre-Doctoral fellowship 2017; Robert D. and Janet E. Neary Award for Academic Excellence 2017; ProQuest 2019 Distinguished Dissertation Nominee 

Iris Wang: Leabo Award for Academic Excellence 2017. 

​Jacob Chestnut: Rackham Graduate School Merit Fellow 2011- 2017.

Jacob Chestnut: Leabo Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching 2016.

Media Mentions

Guihua Wang: News coverage of his research into hospital quality measures

 

Coordinator: Joline Uichanco

  • Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations
Read more

Downloads

To find out more about our PhD program, download the “Prospective Students” PDF or email Professor Joline Uichanco. 

Our Students

Current Students

Bae, Joonho baejh@umich.edu
Charbaji, Samer charbaji@umich.edu
Cho, Hyungchan chohc@umich.edu
Hu, Renjun renjunhu@umich.edu
Hu, Yuwen yuwenhu@umich.edu
Li, Jiawei jiawli@umich.edu
Li, Manqi (Maggie) manqili@umich.edu
Liang, Jiaxin (Alys) jiaxinl@umich.edu
Liang, Xinyu (Shirley) xinyul@umich.edu
Snyder, Clare claresny@umich.edu
Tian, Feng   ftor@umich.edu
Zhang, Mengzhenyu   zhenyuzh@umich.edu
Zhang, Zijin   zijinz@umich.edu
Zhou, Fan fanzhou@umich.edu

Graduated Students

2020 Zhaohui Jiang Carnegie Mellon University
2019 Aravind Govindarajan Target Corporation
2019 Lai Wei Boston College
2019 Guihua Wang University of Texas at Dallas 
2018 Jacob Chestnut Cornell University
2018 Evgeny Kagan Johns Hopkins
2018 Murray Lei Queens University
2018 Iris Wang UIUC
2017 Qi (George) Chen University of Texas - Dallas
2016 Hakjin Chung KAIST
2016 Liang Ding Bain Consulting
2015 Ana Ruth Beer Indiana University
2015 Yao Cui Cornell University
2015 Daniel Rush University of Northern Colorado
2015 Ajit Sharma Carnegie Mellon University (visiting)
2014 Amornpetchkul, Thunyarat (Bam) National Institute of Development Administration, Thailand
2014 Malladi, Suresh University of Arkansas
2014 Qi, Anyan University of Texas at Dallas
2014 Suresh, Santhosh McKinsey and Company

2013

Sanghee Lim

Johns Hopkins University

2013

Yan Yin

HEC Paris

2012

Suleyman Demirel

Zayed University

2012

Terence Saldanha

Emporia State University

2012

Dadi Wang

McGill University

2011

Eren Cetinkaya

McKinsey and Company

2011

Sripad Devalkar

Indian School of Business

2011

Bin Hu

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

2011

Min-Seok Pang

George Mason University

2009

Sanjeev Kumar

University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee

2009

Ali Tafti

University of Illinois

2009

Zhixi Wan

HEC Paris

2009

Man Yu

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology