Ranking for Computer Science & Electronics in Polytechnique Montréal

Facts About Polytechnique Montréal

Polytechnique Montréal, previously École Polytechnique de Montréal, is a French-language engineering university affiliated with Université de Montréal. The largest engineering institution in Quebec and one of the three largest engineering schools in Canada was founded in 1873 to meet the needs that arose during the industrial revolution. At the time, it was the first Francophone engineering institution to be established in North America.

The institution has eight departments: Chemical; Civil, Geological, and Mining; Electrical; Computer and Software; Mathematics and Industrial; Mechanical; Engineering Physics; and Biomedical. Each department offers undergraduate and graduate studies, plus microprograms and certifications. Overall, it has more than 140 programs. It also has agreements with more than 400 institutions around the world to offer its courses.

Polytechnique Montréal is also very active in research. Annually, its budget for engineering projects reaches $100 million. It has around 60 research units working on projects related to aerospace engineering, information security, medical engineering, and sustainable development, among others. Researchers affiliated with the institution demonstrated their expertise particularly in the fields of civil engineering and sustainable development with the construction of the Pierre-Lassonde et Claudette MacKay-Lassonde building. The structure earned a Gold certificate from the US Green Building Council. The Canadian Architect magazine also conferred it an "Award of Merit." The structure was so built that it performs 60% better than the standard of Model National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings.

Montreal Polytechnique has strategic partnerships with industrial organizations in and out of Canada. Through these joint efforts, Polytechnique researchers actively develop new technologies. Their endeavors have resulted in 56 patents and 29 spinoff companies that are still in operation.

The institution’s research activities are also recognized by the Canadian government through the Canada Research Chairs Program. Chairholders are individuals who achieve excellence in their fields. Polytechnique has 23 Industrial Research Chairs, 12 of whom are appointed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. There are also 20 Canada Research Chairs and one Canada Excellence Research Chair.

As well, students of Polytechnique Montréal are active in research through their courses and their extracurricular societies. The student organizations work on practical projects, such as a human-powered submarine, video games development, and neurotechnologies.

Polytechnique Montréal’s graduates have also made their marks in biomedicine, artificial intelligence, aerospace, information security, and more. A few notable alumni are Jean-Jacques Archambault who made possible the 735 kV transmission lines and David Saint-Jacques who is an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency. Justin Trudeau, the 23rd prime minister of Canada, also studied engineering in the institution but did not obtain a degree.