Challenges of Implementing a Joint Industrial–Academic Research Project as Part of a Nontraditional Industrial Ph.D. Dissertation

Abstract

This contribution will address the challenges of implementing a collaborative research project between industry and academia as part of an industrial Ph.D. dissertation. The research project is a collaboration between Evonik Degussa, Auburn University, and the University of South Alabama. This work will outline the challenges of integrating all the groups into a cohesive project team and will address how the research group is structured, the challenges of organizing team members across multiple universities and industry groups in the United States and Germany, and how the research is incorporated into a nontraditional, industrial Ph.D. dissertation for a distance-education graduate student at Auburn University.