Thursday Open Line


In order to tackle the 19th century’s version of “shovel ready jobs,” the nation’s first engineering college opened on this date in 1825 in Troy, New York, now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At the time, engineering primarily concerned great structures, applying math and physical sciences to bridges, canals, ship-building, fortifications and large buildings. In the years since, engineering has come to be applied to many other fields, such as chemical, electrical, petroleum, and, of course, computers. As a force in the U.S. economy, what might be called “big engineering” is a major industry. There are over 58,000 engineering service firms in the nation, employing slightly under one million people. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.