Dr. Shardul Pandya

Dr. Pandya emigrated to the United States with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial and Production Engineering (dual Major) back in 1987. He earned a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1990. He later enrolled in the doctoral program at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, from where he earned his terminal degree in Engineering Management in 1997.

After graduating from ODU, he accepted a position in the in the Direct Marketing industry, working in the then not-so-well-known field of Data Mining. He worked in the Direct Marketing industry for about a decade, after which the charm had worn out, and he returned to his academic roots.

This phase of his career led him to be employed at Capella University, from where he retired as a Senior Research Methods Professor. He has served as a thesis advisor to almost two dozen doctoral students and mentored many, many more. He has been working as an adjunct for the University of Fairfax since retirement.

His research interest is in the mechanics of writing a quality doctoral dissertation and choosing the appropriate research method for the appropriate topic and research question. He has published in this area, as well as presented in academic conferences.

Dr. Pandya also owns and manages a small software company where he supervises four employees. He has been married for over 30 years, with two grown children, one of whom is working on her Ph.D. in Physiology, and the other, earning her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering.