Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The Ranking of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

www.rpi.edu

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, is a private research university located in Troy, New York, United States. RPI was founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer for the "application of science to the common purposes of life", and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world. The institute is known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.

RPI's mission has slowly evolved over the years while retaining its focus on the scientific and technological roots upon which the school was founded. Adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1995, RPI's current mission is to "educate the leaders of tomorrow for technologically based careers. We celebrate discovery, and the responsible application of technology, to create knowledge and global prosperity.

History

Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's first senior professor and appointed the first board of trustees. On December 29 of that year, the president and the board met and established the methods of instruction, which were rather different from methods employed at other colleges at the time. Students performed experiments, explained their rationale, and gave their own lectures rather than listening to lectures and watching demonstrations.

The school opened on Monday, January 3, 1825 at the Old Bank Place, a building at the north end of Troy. The opening was announced by a notice, signed by the president, and printed in the Troy Sentinel on December 28. The school attracted students from New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The fact that the school attracted students from afar is attributed to the reputation of Eaton. Fourteen months of successful trial led to the incorporation of the school on March 21, 1826 by the State of New York. In its early years, the Rensselaer School resembled a graduate school more than it did a college. It drew graduates of older institutions such as Amherst, Bowdoin, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Union, Wesleyan, Williams, and Yale. Indeed, there was a considerable stream from Yale, where there were several teachers interested in the sciences.

RPI enjoyed a period of academic and resource expansion under the leadership of President Palmer Ricketts. Born in 1856 in Elkton, Maryland, Ricketts came to RPI in 1871 as a student. Another period of expansion occurred following World War II. Enrollment for the 1946 school year was so high that temporary dormitories had to be constructed.

On October 4, 2008, RPI celebrated the grand opening of the $220 million Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. About two months later, President Jackson announced via email that there would be Institute-wide layoffs due to "the global and national economic crisis, and its impact on endowments." On December 16, 2008, RPI eliminated 98 positions across the Institute, about five percent of its workforce.

Having nearly two centuries of history and a high tech future in store, the Princeton Review remarks, “Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is simultaneously the oldest technological school in the country and the most modern school of technology in the U.S. It’s like George Jetson meets Archimedes.

Campus

RPI's 275-acre (1.11 km2) landscaped campus sits upon a hill overlooking historic Troy, New York and the Hudson River. The surrounding area is mostly residential neighborhoods, with the city of Troy lying at the base of the hill. The campus is bisected by 15th Street, with most of the athletic and housing facilities to the east, and the academic buildings to the west. An iconic footbridge spans the street, linking the two halves. Much of the campus features a series of Colonial Revival style structures built in the first three decades of the 20th century.

Research and development

RPI has established six areas of research as institute priorities: biotechnology, energy and the environment, nanotechnology, computation and information technology, and media and the arts.Advances in these fields have the potential to effect dramatic transformations in 21st century society.

RPI is home to the United States' first on-campus business incubator, which has helped start over 180 companies in its lifetime, with a survival rate of about 80%. One of the largest companies to have originated in the incubator is MapInfo, a major publisher of mapping and geographic information systems software which is still headquartered in Troy, NY. Others incubator success stories include Vicarious Visions, a well known maker of video games, and CORESense, Inc., a leading provider of multi-channel retail software. RPI operates the Rensselaer Technology Park, which is home to over 50 technologically oriented companies. The 1,250-acre (5.1 km2) park is about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the campus along the Hudson River. Park tenants collaborate with faculty and students on research projects and hire students for internships, co-ops, and employment.

Some notable research centers operated by RPI are the Terahertz Research Center, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center, New York State Center for Polymer Synthesis, Darrin Fresh Water Institute, Center for Automation Technologies and Systems, and the Lighting Research Center. The Lighting Research Center (LRC) is the leading university-based research center devoted to lighting, offering the world's only M.S. degree in lighting. Since 1988 it has built an international reputation as a reliable source for objective information about lighting technologies, applications, and products. The LRC provides training programs for government agencies, utilities, contractors, lighting designers, and other lighting professionals.

RPI conducts nuclear research at the 60MeV Gaerttner Linear Accelerator (LINAC) Laboratory. The LINAC is used primarily for the testing of materials, but there is also ongoing research in neutron generation and other technologies. The lab made the news with discoveries regarding bubble fusion and portable pyroelectric fusion devices. Other important research facilities include the geotechnical centrifuge, used for civil engineering simulations, and RPI's array of six subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic wind tunnels.

In May 2006, RPI announced a partnership with IBM and New York State to create the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, a supercomputing center to be used for nanotechnology research. As of June 2008, the $100 million center is North America's most powerful university-based supercomputing center and the 22nd most powerful supercomputing center of any kind in the world.

Academic Reputation

RPI ranks among the top 50 national universities in the United States according to US News & World Report. The same source ranks RPI 24th for "Best Value" in undergraduate education. In 2005, the School of Engineering was ranked 18th in the nation for undergraduates, and 34th in the nation for graduates. Four of the graduate engineering programs are ranked in the top 20 (electrical engineering, materials science and engineering, industrial engineering and mechanical engineering), seven of 11 are ranked in the top 25, and all are ranked in the top 40 in the nation. U.S. News also put the graduate applied mathematics program at 20th.

The Newsweek/Kaplan 2007 Educational College Guide proclaimed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute one of the 25 "New Ivies", an elite group of 25 schools that provide an education equivalent to schools in the Ivy League.

The Lally School of Management and Technology’s entrepreneurship programs ranked 21st in the nation, and its technological entrepreneurship program was ranked sixth by Entrepreneur Magazine. The Lally School's corporate strategy program was ranked first in the nation by BusinessWeek magazine.

The Electronic Arts program is one of the highest ranked departments at RPI. For four years in a row U.S. News ranked the iEAR program 8th in the nation: 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

The 2008 America's Best Colleges ranked by Forbes.com placed RPI at #499.

The THES - QS World University Rankings rates RPI amongst the top 200 universities worldwide.

Department Faculty Lists

• Architecture
• Arts
• Biology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical and Biological Engineering
• Chemistry and Chemical Biology
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Cognitive Science
• Computer Science
• Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems
• Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Economics
• Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering
• Information Technology
• Language, Literature, and Communication
• Management & Technology
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mathematical Sciences
• Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
• Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy
• Science and Technology Studie
  
  

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was ranked 174th in the 2008 THES-QS World University ranking.