Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute - History

History

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.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, KhPI continued its work as a Ukrainian institution of higher learning. In April 1994, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine granted Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute university status and it was renamed the Kharkiv State Polytechnic University (KhSPU). In September 2000, the status of National Technical University has been given to KhSPU, by decree of the President of Ukraine; since then, it has had its current name (NTU "KhPI"). In February 2010, NTU "KhPI" was granted the status of Autonomous Research National University by decree of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers.