User:Outspan/tmp/Politecnico di Torino

The Polytechnic University of Turin (Italian: Politecnico di Torino, POLITO) is an engineering university based in Turin.

The main courses include architecture, civil engineering, environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, computer engineering, aeronautical engineering, production engineering, nuclear engineering, chemical engineering, physical engineering, and biomedical engineering. As of August 19, 2007 there is a total of 39 undergraduate, 35 postgraduate, 30 Phd and 18 master degrees.

The Politecnico di Torino has conventions with numerous foreign universities (especially European and American ones) which, thanks to bilateral agreements, make it possible for its students to obtain a double degree. Some notable examples include the TOP-UIC master (University of Chicago) and the ALPIP (America Latina Piemonte Politecnico, Latin America and Piedmont Politecnico), the CLUSTER programme, and the European Union exchange programme Socrates/Erasmus.

In 2004, Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano founded the Alta Scuola Politecnica, an excellence school admitting the students coming from a range of technical faculties (Engineering, Architecture and Design) with excellent marks (the top 5% of each course).

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 to architecture 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, electronic engineering and computer engineering.

List of schools
Six main Schools (4 Schools of Engineering and 2 Schools of Architecture) organise 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 Alenia Spazio, Motorola, Compaq, Ferrari, Fiat, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Pininfarina or STMicroelectronics.