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Why Cornell Engineering?
"Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that never has been."—Theodore von Karman
Cornell engineers challenge the status quo and do great things. Steeped in an environment of questioning, and with a focus on innovation, Cornell Engineering pursues excellence in all areas. Its faculty, students, and alumni design, build, and test products, improve the world of medicine, inform and shape our laws, create and drive businesses, become research luminaries, and overcome real and perceived barriers to achieve scientific breakthroughs that advance the quality of life on our planet.
We invite you to learn more about Cornell Engineering and its programs.
Did you know?
John W. Wells (M.A., 1930, Ph.D., 1933), professor of geology from 1948-1973, discovered that corals can be used to determine past rotational speeds of the Earth and that the planet has been slowing down. His research spurred a remarkable increase in similar research studies and lead to discoveries in the changes of the orbital patterns of the Earth and moon over geologic time.
Prof. David Erickson developed a solar powered medical testing kit so people in remote, underserved areas of the world can have fast, accurate tests for certain cancers. He also developed smartphone-based systems for measuring personalized cholesterol and vitamin D levels in resource-poor areas of the world.
Salpeter-Decay-The technique for detecting radiologic decay in tagged molecules called quantitative electron-microscopic autoradiography was developed by Miriam Salpeter during her postdoctoral research in Applied and Engineering Physics in 1961 to 1967.
In 1997, The New York Times hailed Prof. Yu-Hwa Lo’s work with potential to “revolutionize the industry.” Dr. Lo’s patent for a compliant universal substrate for growing pure, single crystals was seen as a major turning point in manufacturing. In 1988, he co-founded CTO of Nova Crystals, Inc., which develops and manufactures high-end fiber-optic data and telecommunications components.
In 2011, Intel announced sponsorship of the newly created Cornell Cup. The international embeded technology competition challenges college students around the world to think of, design, and build the next generation of embedded systems technologies. It is the first competition of its kind at the international collegiate level.