RPI . . . “Hi tech” and hockey excellence in upstate New York!
Often, when thinking about centers of “hi tech” activity, Silicon Valley, Boston, and Los Angeles come to mind. There’s another proven hotbed of engineering and “hi tech” excellence that’s less well known . . . the small city of Troy in upstate New York. Why? That’s the home of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, better known simply as RPI. The university’s excellence was recently noted by Newsweek when it named RPI as one of “America’s New Ivies”.
RPI didn’t evolve into a technically oriented college; that was it’s mission from the time it was founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer. In fact, the very first Civil Engineering degrees earned in the United States were awarded at RPI.
Every high school student in America owes an enormous debt of gratitude to RPI but few realize it. Why? Well, consider the following accomplishments made by RPI alumni. Allen Dumont was the inventive force behind the world’s first commercial television. Ray Tomlinson is the power behind the first introduction of email. And finally, Curtis Priem, founder of NVIDIA, brought the world the computer graphics which power today’s video games.
Following a series of fires in downtown Troy which devastated the original RPI campus, plans were made to move to the current hilltop location. However, there was another plan competing with the campus move which was rejected. Ivy League icon, Columbia University proposed a plan which called for RPI to move from Troy, relocate to New York City and merge with Columbia!
Most engineering and technically oriented universities aren’t well known for their athletics. Georgia Tech and RPI are significant exceptions. The RPI “engineers” are an ice hockey powerhouse. RPI has won two NCAA national championships in hockey! A quick glance at the roster of many NHL teams will reveal several former RPI students.
|