Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute

National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute"

Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут"
Motto	Unition of education, science and business
Type	Public university
Established	1885
Rector	Dr.T.Sc., Prof. Yevgen Ivanovych Sokol
Administrative staff	3,700
Students	24,000 (as of 2006)
Location	Kharkiv, Ukraine
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	IAU
Website	http://www.kpi.kharkov.ua/

The National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute" (NTU "KhPI") ((Ukrainian: Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут")), in the city of Kharkiv, is the largest and oldest technical university in eastern Ukraine. Founded in 1885, it is the second-oldest technical university in the former Russian Empire (after Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology) and in the territory of modern Ukraine (after Lviv Polytechnic).

The university was established according to the program for technical education in the Russian Empire set up by Dmitry Mendeleev as a Practical Technological Institute, with two departments (mechanical and chemical) which could offer training to 125 students. The organizer and first rector of the institute was Viktor Kyrpychov, an honored professor specializing in mechanics and resistance in materials. In 1898, the institute was renamed the Emperor Alexander III Technological Institute. After the October Revolution in 1917, the Technological Institute continued its work. In 1921 the institute set up the first department for workers (rabfak) in Ukraine, and in 1923 (at the request of students, teachers and employees) the institute was renamed for Vladimir Lenin. In 1929 the V.I. Lenin institute of Technology was renamed the Kharkiv V.I. Lenin Polytechnic Institute (KhPI), a name kept until the fall of the Soviet Union.

In 1930, five independent higher-educational institutions (for mechanical machine-engineering, electrical technology, chemical technology, engineering and construction, and aviation) were set up as five separate departments of the institute. KhPI, as a whole, temporarily ceased to exist after that but historians consider these five institutions as informal branches sharing a common history. During World War II over 3,000 professors, students and institute employees joined the Army. Evacuated to Krasnoufimsk and Chirchiq, the institute continued training engineering staff; it also solved serious scientific problems related to strengthening national defense (such as contributing to tank-design work spearheaded by Alexander Morozov, one of the key engineers in T-34 design). In 1949 four higher-educational institutions (the institutes for mechanical machine-engineering, chemical technology, electrical technology and the institute of the cement industry) were reunited into the Kharkiv V.I.Lenin Polytechnic Institute. Professor Mikhail Semko was appointed its rector, and remained in this position for 30 years.