HISTORY

The Engineering studies at the University of Padova can boast ancient and glorious traditions.
The University of Padova is rightly considered one of the few (less than a dozen) historical campuses among the over 50 Schools of Engineering now existing in Italy.
Until the fall of the Republic of Venice no real courses were taught for the engineers’ academic education at the University of Padova, as well as at the other European Universities.
Nonetheless, many of the University’s Professors showed deep interest in the Engineering questions during the XVI and XVII centuries. Suffice it to mention Galileo Galilei, who often visited the Venetian arsenal and availed himself of its technicians’ knowledge for his researches, and Giovanni Poleni, who not only was a great expert in Hydraulic Engineering, but also was interested in the development of calculating machines.
Therefore, the Engineering studies in Padova were cultivated well before 1806, when the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences instituted a study course in Civil Engineering for the first time.
In 1876 a School of Application for Engineers associated to the University of Padova was founded. This is considered the official date of birth of the School of Engineering, even though a Faculty of Engineering was created only in 1935.
The School of Application was arranged over a 3-year period, to be preceded by 2 preparatory years at the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences.
The distinction between Civil Engineering and Industrial Engineering was made in 1926.
In 1929 Construction Engineering, Bridges and Roads Engineering and Hydraulic Engineering were differentiated from Civil Engineering, while Chemical Engineering, Industrial Electrotechnical Engineering and Industrial Mechanical Engineering were differentiated from Industrial Engineering.
The study system remained unchanged until 1960, when the 2 preparatory years became part of the Faculty of Engineering and the overall duration of the study courses became of 5 years.
Another important introduction was that of the Degree Course in Electronic Engineering in 1960, while other Degree Courses were added in 1989: Environmental Engineering, Building Engineering, Engineering and Management, Computer Engineering, Materials Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering.

In 1999 the Degree Courses of the Faculty of Engineering were involved in the reform of the Italian University system, which has implied:

1. introduction of the University credit system;
2. division of the educational paths into two levels, with the possibility to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree after 3 years and a Master’s Degree after further 2 years.

Today the School of Engineering is a multi-faceted centre of excellence with over 11,000 registered students playing an active role in technological innovation.
It offers 13 First-Cycle (Bachelor’s) Degree Courses and 16 Second-Cycle (Master’s) Degree Courses covering all the disciplines in the areas of Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Information Engineering and Industrial Engineering.