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Why Cornell Engineering?
"Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that never has been."—Theodore von Karman
Cornell engineers challenge the status quo and do great things. Steeped in an environment of questioning, and with a focus on innovation, Cornell Engineering pursues excellence in all areas. Its faculty, students, and alumni design, build, and test products, improve the world of medicine, inform and shape our laws, create and drive businesses, become research luminaries, and overcome real and perceived barriers to achieve scientific breakthroughs that advance the quality of life on our planet.
We invite you to learn more about Cornell Engineering and its programs.
Did you know?
In 2006, the Fab@Home project, designed and produced by MAE students, was launched . This first fully open-source 3D printer in the U.S., helped launch the consumer 3D printing revolution. Within one year, the Fab@Home website received 17,000,000 hits and the project received a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award.
The world’s first Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering awarded by Cornell in 1933 to Ralph M. Barnes, (M.S., 1924). During his career, he received numerous awards in the field. Building on the work of his predecessors, he has given a huge boost to method and time study and continued to build on the classic Gilbreth technique and philosophy and proclaimed that time study and micro-motions study were evidently different analysis techniques.
Cornell College of Engineering was among the first engineering colleges to teach nanotechnology to undergrads through a hands-on course designing and building nanotech devices.
In 1975, OR students Edward Ignall and Warren Walker along with co-authors publish their paradigm-shifting paper, “Improving the Deployment of New York City Fire Companies”. Later awarded the INFORMS Lanchester Prize, it sets a new scope of directions for applications of OR in the public sector.
Olive Wetzel Dennis, (Civil Engineering, B.S., 1921) was the second woman to earn a civil engineering degree from Cornell. She transformed the design of mass transit by becoming first "service engineer" at the B&O Railroad and was also the first female member of the American Railway Engineering Association.