The National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico ( es, Instituto Politécnico Nacional de México; ), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest

public universities A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...

in Mexico with 171,581 students at the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

levels. It is the second-best university in Mexico in the technical and engineering domain according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018. It was founded on 1 January 1936 during the administration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Lázaro Cárdenas del Río Lázaro is a Spanish or Portuguese-based given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Lázaro (footballer, born 1990), full name Lázaro Vinícius Alves Martins, Brazilian footballer * Lázaro (footballer, born 2002), f ...

. The institute consists of 98 academic units offering 293 courses of study. It includes 78 technical careers, 80

and 135

programs. Its main campus, called 'Unidad Profesional

Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, Ló ...

' or 'Zacatenco', located in northern

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, covers approximately . The IPN is based primarily in

, but with several research institutes and facilities distributed over 22 states.

History

The institute was founded on January 1, 1936, during the administration of

Lázaro Cárdenas in what had been previously known as the ''Ex hacienda Santo Tomás'' — a large estate initially owned by Spanish '' conqueror'' Hernán Cortés in the 16th century and donated by the federal government. Prominent astronomer

Luis Enrique Erro Luis Enrique Erro (January 7, 1897 – January 18, 1955) was a Mexican astronomer, politician, and educational reformer. Born in Mexico City, Erro studied civil engineering and accounting, among other subjects. He occupied the post of head of ...

, former revolutionary

Juan de Dios Bátiz Paredes ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronoun ...

and former minister of education Narciso Bassols were among its initial promoters. During the administration of former director Alejo Peralta sufficient lands were given to IPN. Expropriated lands of Santa Maria Ticomán (213 ha) and San Pedro Zacatenco (43 ha) were used. The construction of what is now the Professional Unit "

" (Zacatenco) began in 1958. In 1959, former

, the former minister of education

Jaime Torres Bodet Jaime Mario Torres Bodet (17 April 1902 – 13 May 1974) was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico. Life Torres Bodet was born in Mexico City. His mother was Emilia Bodet ...

, and former director of IPN Eugenio Mendez Docurro, inaugurated the first four buildings of Zacatenco, which were occupied by the Superior School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (ESIME) and the Superior School of Engineering and Architecture (ESIA).

Organization

The institute is organized around 98 academic units including 18

vocational high school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

s (operates as CECyT), 26

university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

s, 20 scientific and technical research centers, 17 continuing education centers, 4 units for educational support, 3 support units for education innovation, 8 support units for research, development and technological and enterprise foment, and 2 units affiliated to science, enterprise research and development. These schools are primarily in

, although several extension and research facilities are distributed over 22 states. Some units (particularly the semi-autonomous, internationally renowned

CINVESTAV The Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (in Spanish: ''Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional'' or simply as ''CINVESTAV-IPN'') is a Mexican non-governmental ...

) enjoy a high degree of academic and budgetary freedom. The institute as a whole is headed by a

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

appointed by the

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

, usually (but not always) after some consultation with members of its academic community. Since December 2020, its director-general Arturo Reyes Sandoval. In addition to its academic endeavors, and as part of its cultural promotion strategy, the institute operates '

Canal Once Once (Eleven; formerly Once TV México and Canal Once) is a Mexican educational broadcast television network owned by National Polytechnic Institute. The network's flagship station is XEIPN-TDT channel 11 in Mexico City. It broadcasts across ...

' ('Channel Eleven'), the oldest public broadcast service in Latin America featuring original cultural, scientific, information and entertainment programming, foreign shows and classic, rare, and non-commercial films from all over the world.

Academics

EDIFICIO DE LA UNIDAD POLITECNICA PARA EL DESARROLLO Y LA COMPETIVIDAD EMPRESARIAL

The institute offers 80 undergraduate programs leading to four- or five-year

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

s and 135 postgraduate programs leading to 29

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award pos ...

s, 70

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s and 36

doctorate degrees A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...

. Like most public universities in Mexico, in addition to its undergraduate and graduate schools the institute sponsors several

s called 'Centros de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos' (C.E.C. y T.), most of which are in

Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico ( es, Zona metropolitana del Valle de México). It encompasses Mexico City itself and 60 adjacent municipalities of the S ...

. Upon completion, they lead to a technician degree. For this level of study, the institute offers 78 technical careers.

Athletics

IPN fields 27 varsity teams in sports or activities such as archery,

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

body building Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

frontenis Frontenis is a sport that is played in a 30 meter pelota court using racquets (a tennis racquet or a similar frontenis racquet) and rubber balls. It can be played in pairs or singles, but only pairs frontenis is played in international competit ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, handball, indoor soccer,

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, karate, kendo, mountaineering,

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

, soccer,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, touch football,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. The university maintains a fierce rivalry with all the athletic teams from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); it has a particularly bitter competition with UNAM's football program, the " Pumas Dorados" (''Golden Pumas'').

Notable people

Notable alumni

Scientists and technologists

González_camarena_guillermo_ing,_EN_SU_DESPACHO

Guillermo González Camarena Guillermo González Camarena (17 February 1917 – 18 April 1965) was a Mexican electrical engineer who was the inventor of a color-wheel type of color television. Early life González Camarena was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. He was the younge ...

: television pioneer; inventor of an early color television transmission system. *

Jerzy Rzedowski Jerzy Rzedowski Rotter (born December 27, 1926) is a Mexican botanist. His focus is on Mexican floristics, taxonomy, and ecology. Education and personal life He was born in Lwów, Poland (now in Ukraine) to Arnold and Ernestyna (nee Rotter) Rzed ...

: plant scientist; pioneer of neotropical floristics. * Esther Orozco: biology researcher, winner of the 1997

UNESCO/Institut Pasteur Medal The UNESCO/Institut Pasteur Medal is a biennial international science prize created jointly by UNESCO and the Pasteur Institute in 1995 "to be awarded in recognition of outstanding research contributing to a beneficial impact on human health and t ...

and the 2006 L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for her work on

amoebiasis Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba '' Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colonic ...

. *

Evangelina Villegas Evangelina Villegas (October 24, 1924 – April 24, 2017) was a Mexican cereal biochemist whose work with maize led to the development of quality protein maize (QPM). She and her colleague from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Cent ...

: biochemist laureated with the 2000

World Food Prize The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nor ...

and whose work with

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

led to the development of

Quality Protein Maize Quality Protein Maize (QPM) is a family of maize varieties. QPM grain contains nearly twice as much lysine and tryptophan, amino acids that are essential for humans and monogastric animals but are limiting amino acids in grains. QPM is a product o ...

(QPM). *

Pablo Rudomín Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People * Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Bren ...

: neuroscientist laureated with the

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards ( es, Premios Princesa de Asturias, links=no, ast, Premios Princesa d'Asturies, links=no), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 ( es, Premios Príncipe de Asturias, links=no), are a series of a ...

(1987). * Gilberto Calvillo Vives: president of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

' Statistics Commission. * Alberto Pérez Gómez: architectural historian and winner of the 1984

Alice Davis Hitchcock Award The Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award, established in 1949, by the Society of Architectural Historians, annually recognizes "the most distinguished work of scholarship in the history of architecture published by a North American scholar." The oldes ...

. * Ruth Rivera Marin: architect, the first woman to study architecture at the College of Engineering and Architecture. * Constantino Reyes-Valerio: chemist and art historian, discovered the recipe to create

Maya blue Maya blue ( es, azul maya) is a unique bright azure blue pigment manufactured by cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, such as the Mayans and Aztecs. Manufacture The Maya blue pigment is a composite of organic and inorganic constituents, prima ...

and coined the term Arte Indocristiano. *

Raúl Rojas Raúl Rojas González (born 1955, in Mexico City) is an emeritus professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at the Free University of Berlin, and a renowned specialist in artificial neural networks. The FU-Fighters, football-playing robots ...

: professor of computer science and mathematics and a renowned specialist in artificial neural networks.

Politicians

Centro Cultural Jaime Torres Bodet (el queso)

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was 61st president of Mexico from 1 December 1994 to 30 November 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from t ...

: former

(1994-2000) *

Josefina Vázquez Mota Josefina Eugenia Vázquez Mota ( o̞.se̞'fi.na'βas.ke̞s'mo̞.ta (born 20 January 1961, in Mexico City) is a businessperson and politician who was the presidential candidate of the National Action Party (PAN) for the 2012 elections. Vázque ...

: former

Secretary of Education (Mexico) The Mexican Secretariat of Public Education ( in Spanish ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'', ''SEP'') is a federal government authority with cabinet representation and the responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of ...

* Reyes Tamez:

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

during the Fox administration *

Victor Bravo Ahuja The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

during the Echeverría administration *

Eugenio Méndez Docurro Eugenio Méndez Docurro (April 17, 1923 – August 23, 2015) was a Mexican engineer and politician. He served as the Secretary of Communications and Transportation from 1970 to 1976 during the administration of former President Luis Echeverría. ...

Secretariat of Communications and Transportation The Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (''Secretaría de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes'', SICT) of Mexico is the national federal entity that regulates commercial road traffic and broadcasting. Its he ...

during the Echeverría administration * Héctor Mayagoitia Domínguez: former

Governor of Durango Under the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, the exercise of the Executive authority of this Mexican government unit is reserved for an individual known as the Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign Stat ...

(1974-1979) * Miguel Borge Martín: former

Governor of Quintana Roo The governors of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, since statehood. Governors of the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo since 1975 *Note: In 2001 Mario E. Villanueva was sentenced to prison due to corruption involving Mexican drug war ...

(1987-1993) * Roberto Kobeh González: ICAO Council President (2006-2014) *

Luis Montes de Oca Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

: former Secretary of Finance (Mexico) 1927–1932

Notable faculty

:''See also : Instituto Politécnico Nacional faculty'' *

Alexander Balankin Alexander Balankin (born March 3, 1958) is a Mexican scientist of Russian origin ( Баланкин, Александр Сергеевич) whose work in the field of fractal mechanics and its engineering applications won him the UNESCO Science Pr ...

: scientist, winner of the 2005

UNESCO Science Prize The UNESCO Science Prize is a biennial scientific prize awarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to "a person or group of persons for an outstanding contribution they have made to the technological d ...

for his works on fractal mechanics. *

Heberto Castillo Heberto Castillo Martínez (August 23, 1928 – April 5, 1997) was a Mexican civil engineer and political activist. Castillo was born in Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz, and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the National ...

: inventor of tridilosa and founder of several political parties. *

Juan O'Gorman Juan O'Gorman (July 6, 1905 – January 17, 1982) was a Mexican painter and architect. Early life and family Juan O'Gorman was born on 6 July 1905 in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal Distri ...

: architect and painter. *

Arturo Rosenblueth Arturo Rosenblueth Stearns (October 2, 1900 – September 20, 1970) was a Mexican researcher, physician and physiologist, who is known as one of the pioneers of cybernetics. Biography Rosenblueth was born in 1900 in Ciudad Guerrero, Chihuahua. ...

: physician, physiologist, and noted researcher.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Instituto Politecnico Nacional Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City Educational institutions established in 1936 1936 establishments in Mexico