Polytechnic University of Turin

Infobox_University
name =Polytechnic University of Turin
native_name =Politecnico di Torino
latin_name =


motto =
established =1859 as the SAI, 1906 as Polytechnic University
type =State-supported
endowment =
staff =890
rector =Prof. Francesco Profumo
students =26,000
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral =
city =Turin
state =
country =Italy
campus =
free_label =Sports teams
free =CUS Torino (http://www.custorino.it/)
affiliations =
website = [http://www.polito.it/ www.polito.it/]
logo =The Polytechnic University of Turin (Italian: "Politecnico di Torino", POLITO) is an engineering university based in Turin. Established in 1859, Politecnico di Torino is Italy’s oldest Technical University. It is a member of
* the CLUSTER (Consortium Linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research) which is a network of leading European Universities of Technology
* European Network for Training and Research in Electrical Engineering
* Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) network
* European Spatial Development Planning (ESDP) network.

The main courses offered are architecture, aerospace engineering, automotive engineering, biomedical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, environmental engineering, energy engineering, material engineering, mechanical engineering, mechatronics, nuclear engineering, nanotechnology, production engineering and textile engineering.

History

The Regio Politecnico di Torino (Royal Turin Polytechnic) was founded in 1906, but its origins go back further. It was preceded by the Scuola di Applicazione per gli Ingegneri (Technical School for Engineers) founded in 1859 after the Casati Act and the Museo Industriale Italiano (Italian Industry Museum) founded in 1862 under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture, Trade and Industry. The Technical School for Engineers was part of the university, which led to technical studies being accepted as part of higher education. The country was about to begin a new industrial era, which the Industry Museum was to address more directly. Famous scholars and researchers, authorities in different subjects with characters to match, gave a decree to new subjects such as electrotechnics and building science. They were the first to have a vision of founding a school which dealt with the needs of people and society.

Following the model of the most famous European Polytechnic Schools, at the beginning of the 20th century the Regio Politecnico di Torino had various objectives. It began to contact both the European scientific world and local and national industry. Aeronautics began as a subject. Students from all over Italy came to Turin and found in the new laboratories built for the study of everything from chemistry architecture in a lively and resourceful atmosphere. The future was already at hand. In the 1990s new teaching campuses were opened in Alessandria, Aosta, Biella, Ivrea, Mondovi and Vercelli.

Campuses

The Polytechnic has two main campuses in Turin: the Valentino Castle on the River Po is still the main teaching campus for architecture, while the Corso Duca degli Abruzzi campus is dedicated mainly to engineering. A new mini-campus at Alenia Spazio holds the first teaching year of engineering while motor vehicle engineering is attended at Fiat-Lingotto Fiere.

The Polytechnic is currently extending the size of the campus in Corso Duca degli Abruzzi by constructing a facility which will almost double the current size of the Corso Duca building.

Vercelli is the location of the Second School of Engineering, which provides course in civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electronic and computer engineering.

List of schools

Six main Schools (4 Schools of Engineering and 2 Schools of Architecture) organize and manage teaching activities at the Politecnico di Torino along with the Graduate School.

* First School of Architecture
* Second School of Architecture
* First School of Engineering
* Second School of Engineering
* Third School of Engineering
* Fourth School of Engineering
* Graduate School

Research alliances

The Polytechnic has strong research links with local and international companies, reaching about 700 yearly research contracts with firms such as Thales Alenia Space, Motorola, Compaq, Ferrari, Fiat, General Motors, Avio, Agusta, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Pininfarina, STMicroelectronics and Schneider Electric.

Ranking

According to "Academic Ranking of World Universities" published by Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in engineering, technology and computer science fields, Politecnico di Torino ranks among Top 100 universities in the world, among top 15 universities in Europe and number one in Italy.

See also

* ESDP-Network
* Top Industrial Managers for Europe
*List of Italian universities
*Turin

External links

* [http://www.polito.it/ Politecnico di Torino Website] it icon en icon
* [http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ARWU-FIELD2008/ENG2008.htm Top 100 world universities in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences] en icon
* [http://www.sciam.com/piemonte/9.cfm Politecnico di Torino in Scientific American] en icon
* [http://www.cluster.org/ CLUSTER (Consortium Linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research) Website] en icon