New Jersey Institute of Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a public research university in Newark, New Jersey with a degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local industrialists and inventors especially Edward Weston, NJIT opened as Newark Technical School in 1885 with 88 students. The school grew into a classic engineering college – Newark College of Engineering – and then, with the addition of a School of Architecture in 1973, into a polytechnic university that now hosts five colleges and one school. As of fall 2020, the university enrolls about 11,600 students , 2,000 of whom live on campus. NJIT offers 52 undergraduate (Bachelor of Science/Arts) majors and 67 graduate (Masters and PhD) programs. Via its Honors College it also offers professional programs in Healthcare and Law in collaboration with nearby institutions including Rutgers Medical School and Seton Hall Law School. Cross-registration with Rutgers University-Newark which borders its campus is also available. NJIT is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It operates the Big Bear Solar Observatory, the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (both in California) and a suite of automated observatories across Antarctica, South America and the  US. As of May 2021, the school's founders, faculty and alumni include a Turing Award winner (2011), a Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics winner (2015), 9 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 2 members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, 1 member of the National Academy of Sciences, an astronaut, a National Medal of Technology and Innovation winner, a Congressional Gold Medal winner, a William Bowie Medal winner, multiple IEEE medalists, and 15 members of the National Academy of Inventors including 5 senior members. Over the past 20 years NJIT graduates have won fourteen Goldwaters, five  Fulbrights, a Truman, a Boren, four Gilmans, three DAADs, a Tau Beta Pi graduate Fellowship, a Humanity in Action Fellowship, two Whitakers, and sixteen NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. NJIT is a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, a Sea grant college, a Space grant college, and a member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. It has participated in the McNair Scholars Program since 1999. With 20 varsity teams, the NCAA Division I "Highlanders" mainly compete in the America East Conference. History. Founding and early years. The New Jersey Institute of Technology has a history  dating back to the 19th century. Originally introduced from Essex County on March 24, 1880 and revised with input from the Newark Board of Trade in 1881, an act of the New Jersey State Legislature essentially drew up a contest to determine which municipality would become home to the state's urgently needed technical school. The challenge was straightforward: the state would stake "at least $3,000 and not more than $5,000" and the municipality that matched the state's investment would earn the right to establish the new school. The Newark Board of Trade, working jointly with the  Newark City Council, launched a campaign to win the new school. Dozens of the city's industrialists, along with other private citizens, eager for a work force resource in their home town, threw their support behind the fund-raiser. By 1884, the collaboration of the public and private sectors produced success. Newark Technical School was ready to open its doors. The first 88 students, mostly evening students, attended classes in a rented building at 21 West Park Street. Soon the facility became inadequate to house an expanding student body. To meet the needs of the growing school, a second fund -raiser—the institution's first capital campaign—was launched to support the construction of a dedicated building for Newark Technical School. In 1886, under the leadership of the school's dynamic first director, Dr. Charles A. Colton, the cornerstone was laid at the intersection of High Street and Summit Place for the three-story building later to be named Weston Hall, in honor of the institution's early benefactor. A laboratory building, later to be called Colton Hall, was added to the campus in 1911. Becoming Newark College of Engineering. Dr. Allan R. Cullimore led the institution from 1920 to  1949, transforming Newark Technical School into Newark College of Engineering (name adopted in 1930). Campbell Hall was erected in 1925, but due to the Depression and World War II, only the former Newark Orphan Asylum, now Eberhardt Hall, was purchased and renovated by the college in the succeeding decades. Cullimore left an unpublished history of the institution dated 1955. As of 1946, about 75% of the freshman class had served in the U. S. Armed Forces. Cullimore Hall was built in 1958 and two years later the old Weston Hall was razed and replaced with the current seven-story structure . Doctoral level programs were introduced and six years later, in 1966, an , four-building expansion was completed. Becoming New Jersey Institute of Technology. With the addition of the New Jersey School of Architecture in 1973, the institution had evolved into a technological university, emphasizing a broad range of graduate and undergraduate degrees and dedicated to significant research and public service. President William Hazell, Jr., felt that the name of the school should clearly communicate this dynamic evolution. Alumni were solicited for suggestions to rename the institution, with the winning suggestion coming from Joseph M. Anderson '25. Anderson's suggestion – New  Jersey Institute of Technology – cogently emphasized the increasing scope of educational and research initiatives at a preeminent New Jersey university. The Board of Trustees approved the transition to the new name in September 1974, and Newark College of Engineering officially became New Jersey Institute of Technology on January 1, 1975. Anderson received the personal congratulations of President Hazell. At that time, the Newark College of Engineering name was retained for NJIT's engineering school. Recent history. On May 2, 2003 Robert A. Altenkirch was inaugurated as president. He succeeded Saul K. Fenster, who was named the university's sixth president  in 1978. Altenkirch retired in 2011 and on January 9, 2012, NJIT Trustees named Joel Bloom president. In 2003 the opening of the new Campus Center on the site of the former Hazell Hall centralized campus social events. Construction of a new Atrium, Bookstore, Information Desk, Dining Hall, computer lab, and new student organization offices continued into 2004. In 2005 a row of automobile chop shops adjacent to campus were demolished. In 2006 construction of a new off-campus residence hall by American Campus Communities commenced in the chop shops' location. The new hall, which opened in 2007, is dubbed  the University Centre. Also in 2005, Eberhardt Hall was fully renovated and re-inaugurated as the Alumni Center and the symbolic front door to the university. Its restored tower was the logo of the former Newark College of Engineering and was designed by Kevin Boyajian and Scott Nelson. A rebranding campaign with the current slogan, "NJIT – New Jersey's Science and Technology University – The Edge in Knowledge", was launched to emphasize NJIT's unique position as New Jersey's preeminent science-and-technology-focused research university. Recently, the school changed its accredited management school into an AACSB-accredited business school . The business school focuses on utilizing technology to serve business needs. The school benefits from its proximity to New York City; in particular, Wall Street is just twenty-five minutes away. The school also has a strong academic collaboration with the nearby Rutgers business school. In 2008 NJIT began a program with the Heritage Institute of Technology (HIT) in West Bengal, India under which 20 HIT students come to NJIT for summer internships. In 2009 the New Jersey School of Architecture was reorganized as the College of Architecture and Design (CoAD). Within the college, the New Jersey School of Architecture  continues, and it was joined by the newly established School of Art + Design. In June 2010, NJIT officially completed its purchase of the old Central High School building which sits between the NJIT and Rutgers–Newark campuses. With the completion of the purchase, Summit Street, from Warren Street to New Street, was converted into a pedestrian walkway. Subsequently, the Central High School building was extensively renovated, preserved, and updated per the Campus Master Plan, which included tearing down Kupfrian Hall to create more greenery. Facilities added in 2016-18 include: a 209,000 sq.ft., multi-purpose Wellness and Events Center  (WEC) which features a retractable-seating arena that can accommodate 3,500 spectators or 4,000 event participants; a 24,000 sq. ft. Life Sciences and Engineering Center; a 10,000 sq. ft. Makerspace, and a parking garage with spaces for 933 cars. The university awarded 2,951 degrees in 2017, including 1512 bachelor's, 1281 master's, and 59 PhDs. Enrollment, currently at 11,423, is projected to reach 12,200 by 2020. Academics. Admissions. The admission criteria consists of: The average SAT score (math + verbal only) for enrolling freshmen in fall 2018 is 1288 (662 Math, 626 Verbal). The average SAT score (math +  verbal only) for enrolling freshmen in the Honors College in fall 2018 is 1470. The minimum SAT score (math + verbal only) for enrolling freshmen in the accelerated BS/MD program – run in combination with New Jersey Medical School (Rutgers) – is 1450. The male-to-female student ratio is about 3.2 to 1, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 20 to 1. Colleges and schools. Comprising five colleges and one school, the university is organized into 21 departments, three of which, Biological Sciences, History, and Theater Arts, are federated with Rutgers-Newark whose campus abuts NJIT's. With a  student population that is 15% international, NJIT is among the most ethnically diverse national universities in the country. It has multiple study abroad options along with extensive co-op, internship, and service opportunities. Newark College of Engineering (NCE). Newark College of Engineering, which was established in 1919, is one of the oldest and largest professional engineering schools in the United States. It offers 13 undergraduate degree programs, 16 master's and 10 doctoral degree programs. Undergraduate enrollment is more than 2,500, and more than 1,100 are enrolled in graduate study. The 150-member faculty includes engineers and scholars who are  widely recognized in their fields. An estimated one in four professional engineers in the State of New Jersey are NCE alumni. The NCE has more 40,000 living alumni. College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA). The College of Science and Liberal Arts was formed in 1982. It was originally known as the Third College having been preceded by Newark College of Engineering and the New Jersey School of Architecture. In 1986 its name was changed to the College of Science and Liberal Arts as a result of a more sharply defined mission and direction. Growing steadily ever since, CSLA has  spawned two of NJIT's colleges: the Albert Dorman Honors College, which evolved out of the Honors Program that was founded in CSLA in 1985, and the College of Computing Sciences, which developed out of CSLA's Computer and Information Science Department. Today the college consists of six academic departments: CSLA also houses: J. Robert and Barbara A. Hillier College of Architecture and Design (HCAD). The College of Architecture and Design houses the School of Architecture (SoA) and the School of Art and Design. The college offers undergraduate degrees in architecture, digital design, industrial design, and interior design as well  as graduate degrees in architecture, infrastructure planning, and urban systems. HCAD is the only college at NJIT to have its own designated library. The library contains materials related to the majors offered in HCAD in the form of periodicals, reference materials, rare books, visual materials (i.e. architectural drawings, prints, postcards, maps, etc.), digital databases, and a materials library. The college offers a pre-college summer program for high school students. Ying Wu College of Computing Sciences (YWCC). The Computer Science department, part of the Ying Wu College of Computing Sciences, is the largest at NJIT, comprising more than one fifth  of the student population. It is also the largest computer science department among all research universities in the New York metropolitan area. The department offers a full range of degree programs in computer science (BA/BS, MS and PhD), in addition to emerging interdisciplinary programs: Telecommunication (MS), Bioinformatics (BS/MS), and Computing and Business (BS/MS). The Bioinformatics degree is also available in a pre-med option. In December 2019, the school opened a satellite site in Jersey City that focuses on financial technology training for those working in the financial industry on Wall Street and in Jersey City. Martin  Tuchman School of Management (MTSM). The Martin Tuchman School of Management was established in 1988 and was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 1997. It offers programs in finance, accounting, marketing, management information systems, international business, technological entrepreneurship, and corporate communications in conjunction with Rutgers University. Degrees available include a Bachelor of Science program (four years, 124 credits), a Master of Science in management program (30 credits), and two Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs: One regular (48 credits; two years for full-time students, three or four years for part-time students) and the  other an accelerated 18-month Executive MBA program for managers and professionals. MTSM also offers a Ph.D. degree in Business Data Science. Research areas include fintech, innovation management, and the advancement of technologies in the business domain including deep learning and distributed ledgers. MTSM hosts entrepreneurship programs for the regional community, including the NSF I-Corps, the New Venture Assistance Program, and the Greater Newark–Jersey City Regional Business Model Competition. Research. NJIT's R&D expenditures were $142 million in 2017 and $162 million in 2018. Areas of focus include applied mathematics, materials science, biomedical engineering, cybersecurity, and  solar-terrestrial physics – of which the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research is a world leader. A key agent in regional economic development, NJIT hosts VentureLink, formally the Enterprise Development Center (EDC), an on-campus business incubator that houses over 90 start-ups, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) which offers R&D services to business. The university has performed research in nanotechnology, solar-terrestrial physics, polymer science, and the development of a smart gun technology. The university research centers include the National Center for Transportation and Industrial Productivity and SmartCampus. The university hosts the Metro New York FIRST Robotics office . The university also hosts the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research which owns and operates the Big Bear Solar Observatory, the world's largest solar observatory, located in Big Bear Lake, California, and operates the Owens Valley Solar Array, near Bishop, California. In the past, NJIT was home to the Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center (CCCC), a research center that specialized in computer-mediated communication. The systems that resulted from this research are the Electronic Information Exchange System, as well as the continuations: The Electronic Information Exchange System 2 (EIES2), and the Tailorable Electronic Information Exchange System (TEIES). One of the  foremost developments of EIES was that of the "Virtual Classroom", a term coined by Dr. Starr Roxanne Hiltz. This was the first e-learning platform in the world, and was unique in that it evolved onto an existing communications system, rather than having a system created specifically for it. Their missions completed, the CCCC and EIES were terminated in the mid-90s. The university currently operates a Class-10 cleanroom and a Class-1000 cleanroom on campus for academic and research purposes including counter-bioterrorism research. The university also maintains an advanced 67-node supercomputer cluster in its Mathematics Department for research purposes . NJIT conducts cybersecurity research in a number of areas including cross-domain information sharing, data security and privacy, data mining for malware detection, geospatial information security, secure social networks, and secure cloud computing. The university is designated a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cyber Defense Education through the 2020 academic year by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. Libraries and archives supporting research. NJIT's Main Library, The Robert W. Van Houten Library, is located in the Central Avenue Building, a facility for quiet and group study, researching, and browsing print and online sources. Since  1997 the Van Houten Information Commons has housed 120 computer workstations. The Barbara and Leonard Littman Library for Architecture and Design is located in Weston Hall. It houses a core collection that includes print and electronic books, journals, maps, drawings, models, e-images, materials samples, and over 70,000 slides. Included among NJIT's information resources are the university's historical archive including items developed and manufactured by Edward Weston, a scientist, prolific inventor, and a founding member of the board of trustees of the university. Dr. Weston's collection of artifacts and rare books is housed in the Van Houten  Library and is available to scholars interested in the history of science and technology. Residence life. Living: on-campus. About 80% of NJIT students commute to campus. The Residence Life (on-campus) community currently includes a little over 2,200 students. There are five residence halls on the NJIT campus. Redwood Hall, constructed in 1978, was the first, followed by Cypress, Oak, and Laurel (constructed in 1997 and extended in 1999). Cypress and Redwood are primarily used for freshman students, while Laurel and Oak house upperclassmen. The fifth, Warren Street Village, which opened in the fall of 2013, provides housing for  Dorman Honors College students and several Greek houses which together provide space for about 600 students. The Warren Street Village also houses the Albert Dorman Honors College itself. Living: off-campus. A new almost-on-campus resident hall known as University Centre (run by American Campus Communities) was completed in 2007. Located near NJIT's Guttenberg Information Technologies Center (GITC) building, it houses students from NJIT, Rutgers–Newark, New Jersey Medical School (Rutgers), and Seton Hall University. Many students from local institutions find housing in nearby neighborhoods and towns including Harrison, Kearny, Fairmount and East Orange. Student newspaper. "The Vector  is an independent weekly student newspaper published by the students of NJIT, originally established in 1924.< It has both on-line and print versions. The tabloid print edition has an estimated circulation of 3,000 from on-campus distribution and a readership of approximately 9,000. The Vector" won the Honor Rating of First Class from the Associated Collegiate Press in 1989-1990. The Vector is a current member of the Associated Collegiate Press. "The Vector" won two awards in the New Jersey Press Foundation's 2019-2020 awards, scoring a second place win for Arts & Entertainment writing and third place  for General Excellence. Athletics. Sports/Teams. NJIT sponsors 20 varsity sports teams including 19 NCAA-Division I teams and 1 ACHA Division II team. It also sponsors 6 club-level sports. Its teams are called the Highlanders. The school colors are red and white with blue accent. NJIT's teams compete at the NCAA Division I level primarily as members of the America East Conference (AEC). Several teams have affiliations outside of AEC as follows: Men's volleyball competes in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), Men's fencing team is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association  (MACFA), Woman's and Men's tennis compete in the Southland Conference (SLC). As of 2016, the women's fencing team is independent. On 6 December 2014 NJIT's basketball team, unranked and independent at the time, made headlines in national sports reports when they defeated the nationally ranked (#17) Michigan Wolverines. NCAA Division I sports at NJIT are: ACHA Division II sports: Club-level sports: Archery, Bowling, Cricket, Ice Hockey, Mixed Martial Arts, Ultimate Frisbee Facilities. In recent years NJIT has extensively added to and upgraded its sports and recreation facilities. In 2017 it opened the Wellness and Events  Center (WEC), a major facility that includes a 3500-seat Basketball/Volleyball arena which can be converted into an event space capable of accommodating 4,000 attendees. In 2019 a new Soccer/Lacrosse field was opened. The WEC replaced the Estelle & Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. Notable alumni. Since its founding in 1881, NJIT has issued degrees to more than 77,000 graduates. NJIT alumni have gone on to pursue distinguished careers in many sectors.