Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT) (Persian: دانشگاه صنعتی امیرکبیر), also called the Tehran Polytechnic, is a publictechnological university located in Tehran, Iran. Founded in 1958, AUT is the oldest technical university established in Iran.[3][2]
It is referred to as the 'Mother of Engineering Universities'.[4] Acceptance to the university is competitive, entrance to undergraduate and graduate programs requiring scoring among the top 1% of students in the Iranian University Entrance Exam, known as 'Konkour'
The university was founded in 1928 as a technical academy and was further transformed into a full-fledged university by Habib Nafisi in 1956. After that, it was extended and enlarged by Dr. Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi, during the Pahlavi dynasty. Named the Tehran Polytechnic, it initially offered five engineering degrees, namely; Electrical and Electronics, Mechanical, Textile, Chemistry, and Construction and Infrastructure. Six months before the victory of 1979 Iranian Revolution, Tehran Polytechnic, was renamed after the Iranian prime minister Amir Kabir (1807–1852).
The university now has 18 science and engineering departments, dozens of research groups and laboratories, and three other affiliated centers, located in Garmsar, Bandar Abbas and Mahshahr.[5] Around 13,400 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. AUT has more than 500 full-time academic faculty members and 550 administrative employees, giving it the highest staff-to-student ratio among the country's universities. The executive branch consists of four departments that receive participation from councils in planning and administering affairs.
AUT has signed agreements with international universities for research and educational collaboration. There is a joint program between AUT and the University of Birmingham.[6]
AUT is one of the leading universities in E-Learning systems in Iran, which began its activities in 2004.
AUT is the pioneer of sustainable development in Iran[7] and established the Office of Sustainability in 2011. The activities of this office contribute to the AUT campus by reducing energy consumption, costs, and emissions, and also provide student coursework, volunteer opportunities for students, as well as research and education academic activities on sustainable development.
History
The establishment and formation of the Amirkabir University of Technology dates back to October 1956 by Eng. Habib Nafisi (حبیب نفیسی). The core of the university was formed at that time under the name Tehran Polytechnic in order to expand the activities of two technical institutes: the Civil Engineering Institute and the Higher Art Center. After Habib Nafisi, the founder of Tehran polytechnic, Dr. Abedi, became the president of the university for a few months until Dr. Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi, the principal at the renowned Alborz High School, was appointed as president of the university early in 1963. Among the accomplishments of Dr. Mojtahedi is the construction of a central amphitheatre, a dining area and a sports ground as well as various faculty buildings.
The university has grown into a national center of science and engineering and its undergraduates number more than 7,000, with a further 6,400 graduate students.[8] The university boasts 35 undergraduate majors, around 90 M.Sc. majors and 36 Ph.D. and post-doctoral programs.
Amirkabir University has been consistently ranked as one of Iran's top universities. The 2011 QS World University Rankings ranked the university 301–350 in Engineering and Technology in the world.[13] Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology ranked AUT among the Top 3 high ranked universities in the country. In Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (2012), the university also ranks among the top three highest ranked universities in Iran.[14] Computer Science, Polymer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering have the highest field rankings in Amirkabir University of Technology.
In the 2013 Shanghai Rankings Amirkabir University's Computer Science department ranked 100–150 among World Universities. In 2014, the Shanghai ranking placed Amirkabir University's Engineering Sciences 151–200 among World Universities.[15] The Polymer Engineering Department of Amirkabir University of Technology is the first and most prestigious Polymer Engineering program in Iran.[15] AUT also ranked first among Iranian universities in 2014 in the CWTS Leiden Ranking.[16] In 2014, the U.S. News & World Report ranked Amirkabir University of Technology's Engineering Sciences 89 among world universities. Also, Computer Science of AUT ranked 90 among World Universities.[17]
The 2021 edition of the QS World University Rankings placed Amirkabir University 477th in the world and second in Iran with an overall score of 24.8, behind only Sharif University of Technology which stood at 407th.[18]
Campuses
Tehran
University's main entrance
The main campus of the Amirkabir University of Technology is in Tehran, Iran. It is located close to Vali Asr Crossroads, the intersection of Enghelab Street and Vali Asr Street, in the very center of Tehran City. Many students commute to AUT via the subway by Vali Asr station.
Mahshahr
The Mahshar campus of AUT has been constructed in the province of Khouzestan in 2001 in order to establish close cooperation with the national company of petroleum industries.
Bandar Abbas
The Bandar Abbas campus of AUT has been established in the province of Hormozgan, which is the center of marine industries in Iran.
Garmsar
The Garmsar campus of AUT has been constructed in the province of Semnan in order to establish close cooperation and distance with the main campus in Tehran.
Library
The library and document center at AUT, the largest technical and engineering library in Iran's capital, is one of the richest academic libraries in the technical and engineering field in the region. The library includes a central library and 16 satellite libraries in Tehran and Bandar Abbas. The library houses about 5 million books.
Departments
AUT has 16 departments including 'management, science and technology', electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, polymer engineering, mathematics and computer science, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, civil and environmental engineering, physics and energy engineering, computer and information technology, mechanical engineering, mining and metallurgical engineering, textile engineering, petroleum engineering, ship engineering, and aerospace engineering. AUT has three educational sites in Garmsar, Bandar Abbas and Mahshahr.
Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering
Scientific associations
Scientific associations exist to help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community. Course work develops only one range of skills. Other skills needed to flourish professionally include effective communication and personal interactions, leadership experience, establishing a personal network of contacts, presenting scholarly work in professional meetings and journals, and outreach services to the campus and local communities.
The university is known as a pioneer in research and innovation in Iran. AUT is a public university, and the government of Iran partly provides its research funding. AUT has cooperation with industrial companies, especially in the oil and gas industries. As a result, many research projects in the university are funded by industrial companies.
The university houses a supercomputer which has a speed of 34,000 billion operations per second. The computer is available for both university affiliated as well as non-affiliated research.[20]
Amirkabir Journal of Science and Technology is a scientific journal which publishes research achievements of academic and industrial researchers in all engineering and science areas.
The AUT Journal of Mathematics and Computing (AJMC) is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original articles, review articles and short communications in all areas of mathematics, statistics and computer sciences.
Research and Technology Center of AUT is an office which collaborates with industries and universities in order to improve research level in the university.
Bahaedin Adab, co-founder of Karafarin Insurance Co. and Karafarin Bank, former deputy chairman of the board of director of the Industry Confederation of Iran, former chairman of the board of directors of the Syndicate of Construction Companies of Tehran
Hossein Hosseinkhani, Shareholder & Owner at Matrix, Inc., a world-leading biotech company dedicated to healthcare technology to improve patient's quality of life. New York City, US. Former chairman of the board of directors of the Pacific Stem Cells, Ltd.
Fars News Agency reports: "President of Iran's Amirkabir University of Technology Alireza Rahaei announced the country is preparing to put a new home-made satellite, called Nahid (Venus), into orbit in the next three months".[21]
Cientifica reports in news item on Nanowerk, April 25, 2012: Iranian scientists are using lecithin to synthesize and bind silver nanoparticles more tightly to wool.[22]
