The City College of New York (CCNY) School of Engineering (SOE), the first public institution of its kind, is still the only public school of engineering in New York City.  CCNY’s ties to engineering go back to 1853, when the College was known as the Free Academy of New York, and a course in civil engineering was required for all students. In 1919, the College's Board of Trustees approved the creation of a separate School of Technology with its own dean and faculty and in 1962, it formally became the School of Engineering and moved to its current home in Steinman Hall. 

The SOE holds a position of premier national standing among public schools of engineering, and is recognized for the excellence of its instructional and research programs, particularly in technologies with relevance to New York City, its metropolitan region, and New York State.  It also leads in the multiplicity of its offerings, with Bachelors, Master's, and Doctoral degree programs in seven engineering fields — biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering, and computer science.
   
Befitting The City College’s longstanding mission of access and excellence, the School of Engineering proudly takes its place as one of the most diverse schools in the nation.  It consistently graduates high numbers of women and other underrepresented populations, working adults, and immigrants.  Women account for 19% of undergraduate and graduate engineering majors, compared with 11% nationwide.  Hispanics and Asians are the largest ethnic groups within the engineering student body, representing 28% and 24%, respectively, of undergraduates. 

Mirroring the renaissance that has spread across The City College in recent years, the School of Engineering is undergoing a period of dynamic growth, both in the quantity and quality of students and faculty.  Between 2000 and 2004, the number of upper division (junior and senior) engineering majors grew by 16%.  They now represent 24% of upper division students; engineering is far and away the most popular undergraduate field of study at CCNY.  Additionally, over 25% of students admitted to CCNY’s Honors Programs choose engineering as their major field of study. 

The School of Engineering faculty now numbers 102 full-time members, one-third of whom were hired during the last four years.  With these new hires, the School is changing its culture to put a premium on research scholarship.  Between 2001 and 2004, funded research brought in by City College School of Engineering faculty nearly doubled from $8 million in 2001 to more than $15 million. 

CCNY engineering faculty members are nationally recognized experts in such wide-ranging fields as remote sensing, cardiovascular fluid mechanics, orthopedic biomechanics and photonics.  The School is also the home of 15 research institutes that conduct cutting-edge research in such areas as earthquake engineering, hydrodynamics, municipal waste research, telecommunications and transportation.

In addition to faculty research, CCNY has the largest undergraduate research program in the New York Metropolitan area.  CCNY engineering and science students work with prominent faculty and publish papers in academic journals as undergraduates.  Both Rhodes Scholar Lev Sviridov, who is now working toward his Ph.D. from Oxford University, and Intel Talent Search first-prize winner David Bauer, now a freshman, have conducted their own research projects under the supervision of CCNY faculty mentors.

In the School of Engineering, Gary Chan, a third-year honors civil engineering major, was one of 15 undergraduates nationwide awarded a Greater Research Opportunity grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The fellowship provides up to $17,000 in academic support annually plus up to $7,500 for a three-month summer internship at an EPA facility. Gary will use the award to continue a research project he began one year ago to study the potential benefits of green roofs in the urban environment. 

In addition, Chen Li and Li Wei, graduate students in civil engineering, were among four winners of the inaugural September 11 Memorial Program Awards for Transportation Planning presented by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council.  They will each receive a one-year, $34,000 stipend for tuition and expenses.  As part of the program, Ms. Chen will work with the New York City Department of Transportation to examine different modes of transportation and safety and land-use issues in a rapidly evolving area on the edge of the region's central business district.  Ms. Li will develop accessibility indicators to such activities as medical services and grocery stores for the region's aging population.