National Technical University of Athens

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National Technical University of Athens
Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο
Seal of NTUA (Prometheus Carrying Fire)
Established:	December 31, 1836 (OS) January 21, 1837 (NS)[1]
Type:	Public
Chancellor:	Konstantinos Moutzouris
Vice-Chancellor:	Ioannis Polizos Gerasimos Spathis [2]
Staff:	1350[3]
Undergraduates:	8500[3]
Postgraduates:	1500[4]
Location:	Athens, Greece
Campus:	Patision Complex (central Athens), Zografou campus (Suburban)[5]
Affiliations:	TIME
Website:	www.ntua.gr

The National Technical University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, National Metsovian Polytechnic), sometimes simply known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions of Greece. It was named Metsovion in honor of its benefactors Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tositsa, Michail Tositsas and Georgios Averoff, whose origin is from the town of Metsovo in Epirus.^[6]

It was founded in 1837 as a part-time vocational school named Royal School of Arts which, as its role in the technical development of the fledgling state grew, developed into Greece's sole institution providing engineering degrees up until the 1950s, when polytechnics were established outside of Athens. Its traditional campus is located in the center of the city of Athens on Patision Avenue features a suite of magnificent neo-classical buildings by architect Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (1811-1885). A suburban campus, the Zografou Campus, was built in the 1980s.^[6]

NTUA is divided into nine academic Schools, eight being for the engineering sciences, including architecture, and one for the general sciences. Undergraduate studies have a duration of 5 years. The university comprises about 700 of academic staff, 140 scientific assistants and 260 administrative and technical staff. It has, also, a total number of 8500 undergraduates and about 1500 postgraduate students.^[3] Eight of the NTUA's Schools are housed at the Zografou Campus, while the School of Architecture is based at the Patision Complex.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Contribution in Greek political life 1.1.1 Athens Polytechnic uprising 2 Schools 3 Alumni 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] History

NTUA was established by Royal Decree on December 31, 1836 (OS), January 21, 1837 (NS), under the name Royal School of Arts.^[1] It began functioning as a part-time vocational school (only Sundays and holidays) to train craftsmen, builders and master craftsmen to cover the needs of the new Greek state. In 1840, due to its increasing popularity and the changing socio-economic conditions in the new state, NTUA was upgraded to a daily Technical School who worked along with the Sunday school. The courses were expanded and the intitution was housed in its own building in Pireos Street.^[1]

In 1843 a major restructuring was made. There were created three departments the Part-time vocational school and the Daily school and a new department called Higher School of Fine Arts whose object was fine arts and engineering. The new department, which was lately renamed to School of Industrial and Fine Arts, rapidly evolved towards a major higher education institution.

In 1873 it moved to its new campus in Patision Street and was renamed, unofficially, as "Ethnicon Metsovion Polytechnion" (National Metsovian Polytechnic) after the birthplace of its benefactors that financed the construction of this historical campus. In 1887, the institution was partitioned into three schools of technical orientation, the schools of Structural Engineering, Architecture and Mechanical Engineering.

In 1910, the Athens School of Fine Arts is established, acquiring its independence from the NTUA, as a school exclusively focused in the teaching the Fine Arts.^{[citation needed]}

In 1914, new schools were created and the officially now named "Ethnicon Metsovion Polytechnion" went under the supervision of the "Ministry of Public Works".

The NTUA changed form in 1917, when by special law it was organized into the Higher Schools of Civil Engineers, Mechanical & Electrical Engineers, Chemical Engineers, Surveying Engineers and Architecture.

In 1923, the NTUA alumni formed the core of the Technical Chamber of Greece, the professional organization that serves as the official technical advisor of the Greek state and is responsible for awarding professional licences to all practicing engineers in Greece.^[6]

[edit] Contribution in Greek political life

The National Technical University of Athens has always been a place of vibrant political life, being closely associated to the Greek student movement and the struggles for peace and democracy in Greece. NTUA students participated in popular struggles, with highlights the National Resistance under the German occupation (1941-44) and the struggle against the Colonels' dictatorship of 1967-74. During the Axis occupation of Greece, NTUA, in addition to its function as an academic institution, became one of the most active resistance centers in Athens.

[edit] Athens Polytechnic uprising

The most important event of NTUA's history is the Athens Polytechnic uprising on November 17, 1973, which was the first step to overthrow Greece's military dictatorship. In the 14, 15 and 16 of November 1973, the students were barricaded inside the institute, and started broadcasting a pirate radio transmission, calling the people of Athens to rebel. In the evening of November 17 however, a. AMX-30 class tank of the military, broke the main gate and charged inside, after receiving orders from the dictatorship. About 28 students were killed in the incident and the uprising ended. The junta however, was irreparably damaged from the popular outcry. The junta fell in 1974, after the Turkish invasion in Cyprus and since then, November 17 is celebrated as a day of freedom and democracy. All schools and universities of the country remain closed that day.^[6]

[edit] Schools

The National Technical University of Athens is divided into nine academic schools (Greek: σχολές), which are furthermore divided into 33 departments (Greek: τομείς) ^[3] :

• School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Department of Signals, Controls and Robotics
  • Department of Computer Science
  • Department of Εlectric Power
  • Department of Electromagnetics, Electrooptics and Electronic Materials
  • Department of Industrial Electric Devices and Decision Systems
  • Department of Communications, Electronics and Information Systems
  • Department of Information Transmission Systems and Material Technology

• School of Civil Engineering
  • Department of Structural Engineering
  • Department of Water Resources, Hydraulic and Maritime Engineering
  • Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering
  • Department of Geotechnical Engineering
  • Department of Engineering Construction and Management

• School of Mechanical Engineering
  • Department of Fluid Mechanics Engineering
  • Department of Thermal Engineering
  • Department of Nuclear Engineering
  • Department of Mechanical Constructions and Automatic Control
  • Department of Manufacturing Technology
  • Department of Industrial Management and Operational Research

• School of Architecture
  • Department of Architectural Design
  • Department of Urban and Regional Planning
  • Department of Interior Design and Landscaping
  • Department of Building Technology-Structural Design and Mechanical Equipment

• School of Chemical Engineering
  • Department of Chemical Sciences
  • Department of Process and Systems Analysis, Design and Development
  • Department of Materials Science and Engineering
  • Department of Synthesis and Development of Industrial Processes

• School of Rural and Surveying Engineering
  • Department of Topography
  • Department of Geography and Regional Planning
  • Department of Rural Technology and Development

• School of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy
  • Department of Geological Sciences
  • Department of Mining Engineering
  • Department of Metallurgy and Materials Technology

• School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
  • Department of Ship Design & Maritime Transport
  • Department of Ship Hydrodynamics
  • Department of Marine Engineering
  • Department of Marine Structures

• School of Applied Mathematics and Physics
  • Department of Physics
  • Department of Mathematics
  • Department of Mechanics
  • Department of Humanity, Social Sciences and Law

[edit] Alumni

• Costas Azariadis - Professor Emeritus at the Department of Economics, UCLA and Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis
• Dimitri Bertsekas - McAfee Professor of Engineering at MIT
• Dimitri Bertsimas - Boeing Professor of Operations Research at MIT
• Michael Triantafyllou - Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering at MIT
• John Argyris - One of the founders of the Finite Element Method, Professor at Imperial College London and University of Stuttgart
• Dimitris Anastassiou - Developer of MPEG-2 algorithm for transmitting high quality audio and video over limited bandwidth, Columbia University professor of electrical engineering
• Joseph Sifakis - Computer scientist, laureate of the 2007 Turing Award for his work on model checking.
• Nicholas A. Peppas - Chaired Professor in Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, pioneer in drug delivery, biomaterials, hydrogels and nanobiotechnology.
• Nicolas Ambraseys - Emeritus Professor of Engineering Seismology at Imperial College London
• Christos Papadimitriou - Computer scientist, laureate of the 2002 Knuth Prize for longstanding and seminal contributions to the foundations of computer science.
• Mihalis Yannakakis - Computer scientist, laureate of the 2005 Knuth Prize for numerous ground-breaking contributions to Theoretical Computer Science.
• Alexander Skabardonis - Professor of Civil Engineering at University of California at Berkeley
• Vassilis Leventis - Greek politician, leader of the Greek centrist party Union of Centrists
• Alexis Tsipras - Greek politician, chairman of the SYRIZA political party
• Maria Damanaki - Greek politician
• Mimis Androulakis - Greek author and politician
• Athos Dimoulas - Greek poet
• Alexis Stamatis - Greek novelist and poet
• Constantine Papadakis - Former President of Drexel University
• Yannis Papathanasiou - Greek politician, current Minister for Economy and Finance of Greece

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Ιστορία" (in Greek). NTUA.gr. http://www.ntua.gr/history2.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-30. 
2. ^ "Organization - The Rectorial Council". NTUA.gr. http://www.ntua.gr/org_en.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-15. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "NTUA Schools". NTUA.gr. http://www.ntua.gr/schools_en.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-28. 
4. ^ "Postgraduate Studies". NTUA.gr. http://www.ntua.gr/postgraduate_en.html. 
5. ^ "General Information". NTUA.gr. http://www.ntua.gr/contact_en.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-28. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} "History". NTUA.gr. http://www.ntua.gr/history_en.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-30. 

[edit] See also

• Athens Polytechnic uprising
• Polytechnic (Greece)
• List of universities in Greece
• Top Industrial Managers for Europe

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National Technical University of Athens

• Official National Technical University of Athens website
• NTUA Central Library
• NOC Network Management Center of NTUA
• Maps and images from NTUA's campuses.
• LTCP Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park

v • d • e Top Industrial Managers for Europe (T.I.M.E. network) Austria Technische Universität Wien Belgium Faculté polytechnique de Mons · Université Catholique de Louvain · Université Libre de Bruxelles · Université de Liège · Vrije Universiteit Brussel Czech Republic Ceské Vysoké Uceni Technické v Praze Denmark Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Finland Teknillinen Korkeakoulu France Centrale Graduate School (École centrale de Lille•Lyon•Marseille•Nantes•Paris)  · École Supérieure d'Électricité · École Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace · École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées  · Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées Germany Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen · Technische Universität Berlin · Technische Universität Darmstadt  · Technische Universität Dresden · Technische Universität München  · Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg · Universität Stuttgart Greece Aristotle University of Thessaloniki · Ethniko Metsovio Polytechnio Athina Hungary Budapest University of Technology and Economics Italy Politecnico di Milano  · Politecnico di Torino · Università degli Studi di Padova · Università degli Studi di Trento Norway Norwegian University of Science and Technology Poland Wroclaw University of Technology Portugal Instituto Superior Técnico Russian Federation Bauman Moscow State Technical University · Moscow State Technical University of Radio Engineering and Automation (MIREA) · Tomsk Polytechnic University Spain Universidad de Sevilla · Universidad Politécnica de Madrid  · Universidad Politécnica de Valencia · Universidad Pontificia Comillas  · Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya Sweden Chalmers Tekniska Högskola  · Kungl. Tekniska Högskolan · Lunds Tekniska Högskola Switzerland École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) · Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH) Turkey Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi United Kingdom Queen's University Belfast European University Association · Networks of European universities · European Society for Engineering Education · European Federation of National Engineering Associations

Coordinates: 37°59′16.31″N 23°43′53.81″E / 37.9878639°N 23.7316139°E / 37.9878639; 23.7316139