Cornell University College of Engineering

Cornell University's College of Engineering was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts. The program was housed in Sibley Hall on the Arts Quad, both of which are named for Hiram Sibley, the original benefactor whose contributions were used to establish the program. The college took its current name in 1919, when the Sibley College merged with the College of Civil Engineering. In the 1940s the college moved to the southern end of Cornell's campus.

The College of Engineering is known for a number of firsts. In 1883, the first course of study in electrical engineering in the world was introduced at Cornell. In 1889, the college took over electrical engineering from the Department of Physics, establishing the first department in this field. The college awarded the nation's first doctorates in both electrical engineering and industrial engineering. The Department of Computer Science, established in 1965 under the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences, is also one of the oldest in the country.

The College is home to many teams that compete in student design competitions and other engineering competitions. Presently, there are teams that compete in The Great Moonbuggy Race, DARPA Grand Challenge, Mini Baja, RoboCup, Formula SAE, Solar Decathlon and others. Cornell's Formula SAE team has been particularly successful, having won the international event nine times, more than any other team.

Profile

Cornell's College of Engineering is highly regarded in the engineering community. In its 2005 ranking of engineering programs at universities in the United States, U.S. News and World Report has placed Cornell first in engineering science and engineering physics. Also, Cornell's operations research and industrial engineering program ranked fourth in nation, along with the master's program in financial engineering.

In nanotechnology, the college has developed into a leading institution. In a survery done by a nanotechnology magazine Cornell University was ranked as being the best at nanotechnology commercialization, 2nd best in terms of nanotechnology facilities, the 4th best at nanotechnology research and the 10th best at nanotechnology industrial outreach.

The College of Engineering offers 13 undergraduate majors, 15 undergraduate minors, 17 MS/PhD fields and 14 Master of Engineering fields. Also, the College offers well over 450 engineering courses. The annual research budget of the College of Engineering exceeds States dollar|$" target="_blank" >^*112 million.

Departments and schools

With about 3,000 undergraduates and 1,300 graduate students, the college is the third-largest undergraduate college at Cornell by student enrollment. It is divided into twelve departments and schools:

The Engineering Quadrangle

The Engineering Quad, originally designed in the 1940s and 1950s has undergone major changes in recent years, particularly with the completion of Duffield Hall. In 2004, relandscaping with a design inspired by Cascadilla Gorge was completed and its landmark sundial was restored to its rightful place on the quad (after having been stored in Upson Hall during the construction period) . Also, modern and open collaborative working spaces were introduced with the construction of a large atrium connecting Duffield, which houses research and teaching facilities for nanoscale science and engineering, with Phillips and Upson Halls. Connected to Upson Hall, away from the quad, are Grumman Hall and Frank H.T. Rhodes Hall, which currently houses the Cornell Theory Center. On the southern end of the Quad, next to Upson and near Cascadilla Creek, are Kimball, Thurston and Bard Halls, all part of a single brick and concrete structure. Thurston is the home to the Theoretical and Applied Mathematics department, and Bard Hall the home of the Material Sciences department. Between Upson and Kimball stands Ward Hall, the soon to be closed down and former building for nuclear sciences. Next to Bard, and across the street from the Cornell Law School, stand Snee Hall and Hollister Hall. Carpenter Hall, containing the Engineering Library, stands next to Hollister on the northwestern corner. The edge of northern face of the quad, mostly open space, is lined with trees along Campus Road.

Future Developments

With the receipt of a $25 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006, the college is looking to add a new William H. Gates building to house the Department of Computer Science, as well as portions of the Theory Center and Program of Computer Graphics. Furthermore, the university is also planning to build an information campus based on the Gates building, and other buildings potentially, depending on the receipt of additional grants.

Degrees

The College of Engineering grants degrees in the following programs of study.

	B.S.	M.Eng.	M.S. / Ph.D.
Aerospace Engineering		O	O
Applied and Engineering Physics	O	O	O
Applied Mathematics			O
Atmospheric Sciences			O
Biological Engineering	O	O	O
Biomedical Engineering		O	O
Biophysics			O
Chemical Engineering	O	O	O
Civil and Environmental Engineering	O	O	O
Computer Science	O	O	O
Electrical and Computer Engineering	O	O	O
Engineering Management		O
Geological Sciences	O	O	O
Information Science	O		O
Materials Science and Engineering	O	O	O
Mechanical Engineering	O	O	O
Nuclear Engineering			O
Operations Research and Engineering	O	O	O
Statistics			O
Systems Engineering		O
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics		O	O

Notes and References

External links

Cornell University | Colleges and schools of Cornell University | Engineering colleges and universities