From its beginnings more than 160 years ago, Pitt’s School of Engineering has served as an influential center for education and innovation. In its early years, the school played an integral role in bolstering the industry that built Pittsburgh, trained American soldiers, and was a font for technology—from the radio to the airplane—that changed the world.
Today’s School of Engineering has built on that historic tradition by encompassing a wide range of research, from breakthroughs in the improvement of biomedical procedures and analysis of human movement and balance to developing stronger, more efficient building materials and becoming a trailblazer in the emerging field of nanotechnology. Below are highlights from the school’s distinguished history.
First engineering professor at Pitt, 1844
Lemuel Stephens joins the Western University of Pennsylvania (now Pitt) as its first engineering professor, teaching civil engineering and mechanical drawing. Stephens thinks that the University has an obligation to produce highly trained engineers for Pittsburgh’s growing number of factories and mines. The first two engineering students graduate in 1846. That same year, George Washington Roebling, who will go on to construct the Brooklyn Bridge, studies at the University while his father, John Roebling, builds the Smithfield Street Bridge. In 1849, the University—a single building located in the current area of downtown Pittsburgh—burns down and will not reopen until 1856.
Engineering department and four-year degree established,
Feb. 8, 1867
With the importance of engineers exemplified by the arsenal buildups of the Mexican and Civil wars, the University’s trustees create an engineering department offering a four-year engineering degree without required classical study. That same year, the University hires Samuel Pierpont Langley, who will become a pioneering force in the fields of astrophysics and aerodynamics. In aerodynamics, Langley uncovers the basic laws of flight and develops the “aerodome,” a single-passenger, steam-powered aircraft. In 1896, the unmanned plane flies approximately a half-mile to become the first heavier-than-air craft to fly on its own power. Technical difficulties during a later manned flight deny Langley the fame Orville and Wilbur Wright, working from Langley’s research on wing design, gain in 1903.
Engineering expands, 1880s and ’90s
Acclaimed engineer Daniel Carhart joins the University’s civil engineering department in 1883. The popular professor becomes dean of engineering in 1892. His tenure coincides with a major expansion of the engineering program: The percentage of University students studying engineering increases from 30 percent to as high as 80 percent; the department adds a degree in electrical engineering in 1893; and, in 1895, the University opens the Western Pennsylvania School of Mines and Mining Engineering. This school and the School of Engineering combine under a single dean in 1927. In 1893, William Hunter Dammond is the first African American to graduate from the University, earning a degree in engineering (with honors). Dammond went on to become a noted engineer, professor, inventor, and mathematical genius whose achievements included noteworthy contributions to the railroad industry.
First radio broadcast, Dec. 24, 1906
Reginald A. Fessenden, chair of electrical engineering from 1893 to 1900, reportedly sends the first voice transmission across radio waves, earning him the nickname “Father of Radio.” In 1893, the University, at the urging of George Westinghouse, persuaded Fessenden—who would receive more than 500 patents in his lifetime—to leave Purdue University and head the University’s new Department of Electrical Engineering (with Westinghouse helping to pay his salary).
Engineering expands facilities and programs in Oakland, 1909
Now located on the new Oakland campus of the recently renamed University of Pittsburgh, the School of Engineering continues to grow in attendance, resources, and prestige. The Department of Metallurgical Engineering is established in the School of Mines in 1909, and the world’s very first petroleum engineering department follows in 1910. In 1913, the University opens the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research and School of Specific Science, which improves industrial processes through scientific research—a fresh concept. The Mellon Institute spawns the independent chemical and industrial engineering departments in 1919 and 1921, respectively. In 1934, the popular institute outgrows its original building and moves to its current location on Fifth Avenue, between Dithridge and Bellefield avenues; the building becomes part of Carnegie Mellon University in 1967.
Pitt engineering students set to work in local industry, 1910
To match students’ learning of theory with experience, the School of Engineering begins the Cooperative Plan of Engineering Education (co-op), wherein students work in a local industry for 12 months—the second such program in the country. Local industrialists praise the program, and by 1922 more than 100 companies have taken part. Westinghouse creates the University of Pittsburgh-Westinghouse Graduate Program in 1927 to further train the company’s researchers and engineers; in turn, Westinghouse engineers serve as professors. A lack of jobs during the Great Depression forces the suspension of both programs. The co-op program resumes in 1987 and remains active today.
School of Engineering trains Americans bound for World War I,
April 1917
Classes are modified to include military training and engineering instruction related to the war effort (including training sanitation engineers and automobile mechanics) after the United States enters World War I. Pitt’s Students’ Army Training Corps attracts soldiers and students (many from the reserves) from across the country, reaching a peak of 2,221 by October 1918. By the war’s end, on Nov. 11, 1918, 72 Pitt students, professors, and alumni will have died in the fighting.
School of Engineering accredited by national review council,
Oct. 26, 1936
The Engineer’s Council for Professional Development, which rates engineering schools across the country, gives Pitt’s Schools of Engineering and Mines accreditation. The recognition is important to the school’s growth, especially in the throes of the Great Depression.
Engineering expands course list to train military engineers
for World War II, 1942
Engineering joins other University programs as a training center for World War II enlistees, and it expands its course list. The school adopts an accelerated, year-round schedule wherein students can earn an engineering degree in 2.5 years. By 1944, the School of Engineering is among the military training program’s top five engineering schools (Pitt will have trained 25,000 people between early 1942 and 1944). The school also proves to be essential in solving many engineering problems for the military.
School of Engineering extends expertise to Latin America, 1952
The School of Engineering begins cooperative programs with Latin American universities during a period of growth fueled by the GI Bill, a booming economy, a shortage of engineers, and large grants and donations to the school. Through Pitt’s Latin American program, the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria in Chile grants the first PhD in Latin America in 1963. Approximately 100 Colombian students from the Universidad de Los Andes will have earned Pitt bachelor’s degrees in engineering by 1971.
Engineering-related subjects consolidated into one school,
Sept. 30, 1965
The engineering and mining schools are merged into a single School of Engineering, allowing for better academic organization and growth. Mining engineering becomes a major in civil engineering, and the chemical and petroleum engineering departments are combined with a new emphasis on oil refining. In 1969, the rise of environmentalism and rampant pollution prompts the creation of Pitt’s Department of Environmental Engineering, which aims to address pollution, waste disposal, and urban blight.
Benedum Hall dedicated, March 18, 1971
Benedum Hall is formally dedicated, consolidating engineering students and faculty into one building.
Bioengineering program established, 1988
The School of Engineering and Pitt’s School of Medicine establish a bioengineering program, formalizing the decades-long relationship between the two schools; the School of Engineering will go on to create the Department of Bioengineering in 1998. Since the end of World War II, the field of engineering has increasingly branched into interdisciplinary and nonmechanical fields.
The first biomedical research at Pitt begins in 1961 with early research on a mechanical heart. In 1975, Pitt appoints Tin-Kan Hung as the first research professor of bioengineering. Hung goes on to secure positions for other biomedical researchers, including current bioengineering chair Harvey Borovetz, who, among other achievements, has developed a mechanical pediatric heart valve.
Other engineering faculty also have branched into medicine, as, for instance, electrical engineering professor C.C. Li, who has researched pattern recognition, image processing, and biocybernetics; his contributions include computer-aided early detection of pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease.
Development of specialized engineering centers of excellence begins,
April 1993
Pitt establishes the Center for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (CBB), which melds biotechnology and biomechanics into research focused on molecular biology, bioanalytics, and biocomputation. The CBB is among the first of numerous specialized labs and centers of excellence that will be established in the School of Engineering up to today and into the future. These facilities feature expert faculty working with leading-edge technology in a variety of areas, from building materials to nanoscience, and from steel production to studying how to prevent injuries from falls in elderly adult populations.
Gerald D. Holder named dean of engineering, 1996
U.S. Steel Dean of Engineering Gerald D. Holder is appointed dean of the School of Engineering. A nationally recognized chemical engineer and a Pitt faculty member since 1979, Holder aims to develop state-of-the-art laboratories and enhance the school’s curriculum through research innovation, fundraising, and faculty diversity. Holder also sets out to better communicate and highlight engineering’s quality and accomplishments.
Under Holder, the school establishes two new departments: The Department of Computer Engineering begins in 1996 and proves to be an immediately popular addition that consolidates the school’s already recognized computer engineering expertise into a focused curriculum for developing computer power and logic systems; the Department of Bioengineering opens in 1998.
School of Engineering launches capital campaign, 1997
Coinciding with the Quiet Phase of the University’s capital campaign, publicly launched by Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg in 2000, (which would reach an unprecedented
$1 billion by October 2006 and extend to a goal of $2 billion), the School of Engineering launches the Campaign for Engineering. The engineering campaign would surpass $110.5 million of its $175 million goal by Oct. 31, 2007, including more than $91.5 million in outright cash gifts received. Campaign funds have enabled the school to substantially enhance scholarship and fellowship support to students, renovate and equip many of its laboratories and instructional facilities, and strengthen the resources necessary to attract and retain outstanding faculty.
John A. Swanson Center for Product Innovation established,
April 18, 2001
Besides stressing research and design, the school also delves into product development and marketing by opening the John A. Swanson Center for Product Innovation. The center strives to be a force in the revitalization of the Pittsburgh region by supporting small businesses and large industries with technology and services for product development and design, from invention and manufacturing to business development and marketing. It is a part of the John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence (SITE), which was developed to promote research collaborations with industry and advance the economic capability of companies in Western Pennsylvania. Please see the included Swanson Institute fact sheet for more information.
Mascaro Sustainability Initiative launched, October 2003
The School of Engineering announces the creation of the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative (MSI) with a generous lead gift from Pitt engineering alumnus John C. “Jack” Mascaro. Among only a few university-based centers of its kind in the country, MSI focuses on sustainable and environmentally-sound engineering and design such as designing “smart” buildings that self-regulate temperature and energy use and creating surfaces immune to mold growth.
MSI also develops educational programs for undergraduate and local high school classes that carry the message of sustainable construction to the next generation of engineers.
Every two years, MSI also sponsors an engineering sustainability conference that features sustainability concepts and brings leading “green” engineers from around the world to Pittsburgh. The first conference was held in 2005 and the second took place in April 2007.
Benedum Hall renovation plan developed, 2006
The School of Engineering develops a plan for a complete renovation of the 35-year-old Benedum Hall and the construction of an additional building. The University will commit approximately $60 million toward the two-phase transformation plan, and an additional $30 million will be raised in private support.
Phase one will begin in spring 2008 with a new, two-story building connecting the Benedum Hall tower to the auditorium building across the plaza that will house MSI. Reconstruction of the auditorium interior will begin in summer 2008 with the current 500-seat open space converted into five individual classrooms.
Renovation of Benedum Hall tower will begin in late 2008 with a complete restructuring of the two basement levels and the first, fourth, and fifth floors. The second phase will begin after 2010 with the renovation of tower floors 6 through 12, which house the school’s academic departments.
The University announces the naming of the School of Engineering,
Dec. 5, 2007
Acclaimed inventor, business founder, and University of Pittsburgh engineering alumnus and trustee John A. Swanson is honored in recognition of the greatest generosity by an individual donor in Pitt’s 220-year history—$41.3 million to the University’s School of Engineering as part of the $2 billion Building Our Future Together Campaign. Pitt will rename the school the John A. Swanson School of Engineering.
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