The School of Engineering and Applied Science

The study of engineering has been part of Princeton University's course offerings for more than 100 years. Engineering at Princeton began in 1875 with the appointment of a professor and a course of study designed for civil engineering. A program in electrical engineering, the first in the United States, was founded in 1889. Three new areas of study in engineering -- chemical, mechanical, and mining -- were added in 1921 and the School of Engineering and Applied Science was formally established. A professor of aeronautical engineering was appointed in 1942 and charged with the task of developing a curriculum of study in that discipline. Principal degrees offered by the school include the Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.), Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).

The Engineering Quadrangle, built in 1962, houses four departments: chemical, civil engineering and operations research, electrical, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. Computer science occupies its own building (completed in 1989) and offers an A.B. as well as a B.S.E. degree. In 1993 the Princeton Materials Institute (PMI) moved into the newly completed Bowen Hall. An expansion of the Engineering Quadrangle was completed later that year, providing new space for the Advanced Technology Center for Photonics and Optoelectronics Materials (ATC/POEM) and additional space for the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. The Engineering Library holds more than 200,000 volumes. In spring 1996 there were 684 engineering undergraduates, including 262 women, and 223 enrolled graduate students. More than 100 faculty members serve the five departments.

Interdepartmental programs directed through the school include: energy and environment, architecture and engineering, engineering and management systems, engineering physics, engineering biology, geological engineering, robotics and intelligent systems, transportation, plasma physics, fusion technology, and statistics and operations research among others.

Total engineering research expenditures for 1996 were $30million. Major research initiatives include earthquake engineering, earth-observing systems, fiber-optic networks, materials science, photonics and optoelectronics, polymer science and technology, and theoretical computer science.