PhD Textiles Design Technology
PhD Textile Design Technology – Program Overview
The PhD in Textile Design Technology is a strategic and timely academic initiative aimed at revitalizing Ghana’s textile industry through advanced research, innovation, and capacity building. Once a major contributor to the nation’s industrial growth and employment, the textile sector has faced significant decline, prompting urgent need for skilled professionals who can drive sustainable development, policy implementation, and industrial transformation.
Developed through broad stakeholder consultations, the program equips scholars with the expertise needed for teaching, research, and leadership roles in academia and industry. It also aligns with national development policies such as One District One Factory (1D1F) and supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). As Ghana experiences increasing demand for PhD-qualified professionals in technical universities and research institutions, this program fills a critical gap by producing high-level graduates to strengthen textile education, management, and innovation across the country and beyond.
Aim
The PhD Textile Design Technology programme aims at building high level human resource capacity to fill in the teaching, research, industry and management gaps in the textiles industry. This is not only in respect to the lack of doctoral Textiles programmes in Ghana, but in response to the upsurge in demand of high-level qualified personnel by academia and industry to occupy critical positions in the country’s Textiles institutions and industries as well as bridging the gaps in academia and industry.
Objectives
The main objectives of the programmes are as follows:
- To prepare participants with advance research knowledge with design thinking, innovation and philosophical competencies for optimum performance in industry and academia to maximize returns in the textile subsector.
- To foster high level of professionalism and creativity in participants to enable them translate theories into practice through adaption of best design approaches in solving complex design problems of today’s world.
- To equip students with design management and administrative abilities to manage and build the needed capacity for the country’s textiles industries and academic institution for sustainable development.
- To develop the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of participants through advanced research and application of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM).
- Equip participants with the ability to make deductions from design philosophies with regards to social, cultural, economic and political contexts in modern design approaches.
- To establish collaborative linkages between participants and industry to enable them take up leadership roles in the textiles industry through experiential studies to perform better in the world of work after school.
Required (Core) Course(s)
TDT 751 Principles & Practice of Textile Design
TDT 753 History & Philosophy of Design
TDT 755 CAD/CAM in Textile Design Technology
TDT 757 Design Research Strategies I
Year One: Semester Two
TDT 752 Directed Readings in Textiles
TDT 754 Design Thinking and Innovation
TDT 756 Design Management and Administration
TDT 758 Design Research Strategies II
Year 2 - Year 4
During this period the student will be engaged in Seminar/Presentation and Thesis/Project reporting every semester until completion of the program