The Escola Politécnica of the University of São Paulo (or the Engineering School of the University of São Paulo, Portuguese: Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo) (usually called Poli, Poli-USP or EPUSP) is an engineering school at the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

(USP) in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It was founded in 1893 - before the creation of USP itself - and was the first engineering school in the state of São Paulo. Its original name was "Escola Politécnica de São Paulo". It was incorporated by USP in 1934. Its students are known as "politécnicos".

Admissions

Admission for undergraduates takes place annually, along with all other courses in the USP, through an exam called "vestibular" held by an institution named

FUVEST FUVEST (from Portuguese ''Fundação Universitária para o Vestibular'', "University Foundation for Vestibular") is a Brazilian autonomous institution connected to the University of São Paulo responsible for its "vestibular" examinations. For ...

(University Foundation for the Vestibular). The Escola Politécnica selects only 870 students out of 13,500 applicants, making it the largest engineering admittance exam in Brazil and also one of the most competitive. Students who have begun their engineering degree elsewhere in Brazil can also transfer to the Escola Politécnica if they pass a specific examination. The school also admits international undergraduate students from partner universities through a separate admission process. These students can apply either for open exchanges or a double degree, in which case they receive a degree from University of São Paulo as well. A separate process exists for master and doctoral courses.

Courses

The Escola Politécnica is regarded as having the most complete engineering program in Latin America. It offers 17 courses for undergraduate students besides 10 master and 9 doctorate tracks. It offers courses in the following fields: *

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

Computer Engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

* Electric Engineering - Automation and Control * Electric Engineering - Power and Automation * Electric Engineering - Electronic and Computer Systems * Electric Engineering - Telecommunications *

Environmental Engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...

Materials Engineering Materials science is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origi ...

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

Mechatronics Engineering Mechatronics engineering, also called mechatronics, is the synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems employing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and computer engineering, and also ...

Metallurgic Engineering Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the s ...

Mining Engineering Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

Naval Engineering Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

Nuclear Engineering Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes. The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide ...

Petroleum Engineering Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas or both. Exploration and production are deemed to fall within the ''upstrea ...

Production Engineering Manufacturing engineering or production engineering is a branch of professional engineering that shares many common concepts and ideas with other fields of engineering such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, and industrial engineering. Manufac ...

International Partnerships

The Escola Politécnica has established numerous exchange programs for its undergraduate students to promote their international mobility. It was the first institution outside Europe to belong to the TIME (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) network, promoting exchange programs and double degrees with several other institutions, of which

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmsta ...

Technische Universität München The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

École centrale Paris École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan (, abbreviated as PoliMi) is a university in Milan, Italy. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher ...

Politecnico di Torino The Polytechnic University of Turin (, abbreviated as PoliTO) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is consi ...

. It has also a double degree program with the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

. An average of 70 students receive a double degree from Poli and a partner institution every year, which constitutes around 10% of its student body. Due to historical reasons and the closer links between University of São Paulo and European universities, most of the partnerships are with European institutions, especially in Germany and France. In this sense, Poli-USP has signed agreements with universities belonging to the prestigious TU9 German Institutes of Technology, Groupe des Écoles Centrales and

ParisTech ParisTech () is a cluster of 7 grandes écoles based in Paris, France. It covers the whole spectrum of science, technology and management and has more than 12,000 students. The training programs in engineering bring them together. ParisTech sc ...

. However, it has also signed student exchange agreements with Asian, North and South American universities. The following universities are partners of Poli-USP in student exchange programs: Belgium * Universitè Catholique de Louvain * Université de Mons * KU Leuven Faculty of Engineering Science Canada * Université du Québec à Trois – Rivières Colombia *

Universidad de Antioquia The University of Antioquia (), also called UdeA, is primarily a Public university, public research, research-based university, located in the city of Medellín, Colombia. With regional campuses in Amalfi, Antioquia, Amalfi, Andes, Antioquia, An ...

* Universidad Industrial de Santander *

Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar The Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar is an institution of higher education in Colombia. accredited high quality in 2011. In 2015 it was recognized as the third best undergraduate university in the country according to the MIDE. From its found ...

Finland *

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

France *

Arts et Métiers ParisTech Arts et Métiers ParisTech () is a French engineering and research institute of higher education. It is a ''grande école'', recognized for leading in the fields of mechanics and industrialization. Founded in 1780, it is among the oldest French i ...

CentraleSupélec CentraleSupélec (, CS) is one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles in France and is a member of the graduate engineering school of Paris-Saclay University in Gif-sur-Yvette, France. It was established on 1 January 2015, as a ...

- former

École Centrale Paris École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

and

École Supérieure d'Électricité École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

(Supélec) *

Chimie ParisTech Chimie ParisTech, officially École nationale supérieure de chimie de Paris (; "National High School of Chemistry of Paris") and also known as ENSCP or Chimie Paris, is a prestigious grande école and a constituent college of PSL Research Univer ...

École européenne d'ingénieurs en génie des matériaux The École Européenne d'Ingénieurs en Génie des Matériaux (, EEIGM) is a French engineering College created in 1991. The EEIGM trains 90 materials engineers every year. All students study the main groups of materials, which are metals and a ...

École Centrale de Lille École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

École Centrale de Marseille École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

École Centrale de Nantes (), or Centrale Nantes, is a grande école – a French engineering school – established in 1919 under the name of ''Institut Polytechnique de l'Ouest''. It provides Bachelor, Graduate, Master, Specialized Master, executive education and Ph ...

École Centrale de Lyon The Centrale Lyon (), formerly (, abbr. ECL), is a research university in Grand Lyon, greater Lyon, France. Founded in 1857 by François Barthélemy Arlès-Dufour in response to the increasing industrialization of France, it is one of the oldes ...

École nationale supérieure de chimie de Lille The École nationale supérieure de chimie de Lille (ENSCL or Chimie Lille) was founded in 1894 as the Institut de chimie de Lille. It is part of the Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France. It is located on the s ...

École nationale supérieure de chimie de Montpellier École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

ENSTA ParisTech The ENSTA Paris, officially École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées (; ), is a French graduate school of engineering (''école d'ingénieurs''). Founded in 1741, it is the oldest ''grande école'' in France. It is located in Palaisea ...

École Spéciale des Travaux Publics École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, du bâtiment et de l'industrie (ESTP) is a French engineering school and grande école located in Cachan. History ESTP was founded in 1891 by Léon Eyrolles and was officially recognized by the State in 19 ...

École nationale supérieure des mines de Saint-Étienne École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

* Grenoble INP *

École supérieure d'optique The Institut d'optique Graduate School ("Institute of optics"), nicknamed SupOptique or IOGS, is a graduate school of Paris-Saclay University and ParisTech. History Armand de Gramont, a rich industrialist and friend of Marcel Proust, was the ma ...

Mines ParisTech Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

Mines Nancy Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

* Télécom ParisTech * Université de Technologie de Compiègne *

Université de Toulon The University of Toulon (French: ''Université de Toulon'' or UTLN) is a French university located in Toulon, France, and neighboring areas (La Garde, Var, La Garde, Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël, La Valette and Draguignan). It was fou ...

Germany *

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

* Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen * Universität Stuttgart *

Universität Duisburg-Essen The University of Duisburg-Essen () is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded 194th place in the world. It was originally ...

Universität der Bundeswehr The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) runs two universities—one in Munich, (Bundeswehr University Munich) and another in Hamburg ( Helmut Schmidt University)—which focus on the scientific work and the academic study of the German armed fo ...

Leibniz Universität Hannover Leibniz University Hannover (), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational School, the university has undergone six periods of renaming, its ...

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research The work of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ (prior to 28 November 2006 UFZ-Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle GmbH) covers both basic research and applied research. The UFZ was established on 12 December 1991. The Centr ...

* Universität Bremen India *

Indian School of Mines The Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad is a public technical university located in Dhanbad, India. IIT Dhanbad is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in India. Indian Institute of Technology Dha ...

Italy *

* Università degli Studi di Padova * Università degli Studi di Palermo *

University of Trento The University of Trento (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Trento'') is an Italian university located in Trento and nearby Rovereto. It has been able to achieve considerable results in didactics, research, and international relations accord ...

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

Japan *

Shibaura Institute of Technology The , abbreviated as , is a private university with the main campus located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan, with campuses located in Tokyo and Saitama. History Established in 1927 as the Tokyo Higher School of Industry and Commerce, it was chartere ...

Mexico *

Instituto Politécnico Nacional The National Polytechnic Institute (), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is the second-best university in Mexico in the techni ...

Peru *

Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (, PUCP) is a private university in Lima, Peru. It was founded in 1917 with the support and approval of the Catholic church, being the oldest private institution of higher learning in the country. The Peru ...

Portugal *

Instituto Superior Técnico The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, also known as Técnico, and stylized TÉCNICO LISBOA; English: ) is the school of engineering and technology of the University of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911, and was integrated in ...

Singapore *

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

South Korea *

KAIST KAIST (originally the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is a national university, national research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea. KAIST was established by the Korean government in 1971 as the ...

Spain * Universidad de Jaen *

Universidad de Navarra Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

Universidad de Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon (Spain). Founded in 1542, it is one of the oldest universi ...

Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

Universidad Politecnica de Valencia The Polytechnic University of Valencia (; , ), shortened to UPV, is a Spanish university located in Valencia, with a focus on science, technology, and arts. It was founded in 1968 as the Higher Polytechnic School of Valencia and became a univers ...

Sweden *

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

United States *

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Venezuela * Universidad Simón Bolívar

Budget

The Escola Politécnica has the largest budget among Brazilian engineering schools. Its 2013 annual budget, supplied by the state of São Paulo and distributed by the university's administration was R$204.118.235,96 (~US$85.000.000). The School receives investments from private companies as well, which currently have more than 300 agreements and contracts with the institution. One of the most well-known partnerships is with PACE, which comprises

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

, HP,

Siemens Digital Industries Software Siemens Digital Industries Software (formerly UGS and then Siemens PLM Software) is an American computer software company specializing in 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. The company is a business unit of Siemens, operates un ...

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that provides software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquarte ...

and

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

. The PACE program also sponsors universities like

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

and

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, providing high-level

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

/ CAE software. In 2011, a group of alumni created the Escola Politécnica Endowment, with the goal to gather additional resources from alumni and companies - a pioneer in Brazilian universities. In 2014, the Endowment merged with another alumni fund, called Amigos da Poli, forming a R$6.1 million fund dedicated to finance student projects.

Campus

The Escola Politécnica is part of the

Cidade Universitária Cidade Universitária is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on the artificial island An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed throug ...

, located in the city of São Paulo. The School has a constructed area of 151,500 square meters (~1,631,000 sq. ft.), being the largest among all other units in the university. It has 103 laboratories, which are part of 15 departments for teaching and research. As of Sep/2014, the School had 4,520 undergraduate students, 841 students seeking a master's degree and 733 students seeking a PhD degree.

References