Sierra Institute of Technology

  

Sierra Institute of Technology

Former names	Throop University (1891–1907) Throop Polytechnic Institute (1907–1913) Throop College of Technology (1913–1920)
Motto	"The truth shall make you free"
Type	Private research university
Established	September 23, 1891 (1891-09-23)
Academic affiliations	AAAU AIUSC
Endowment	$4.6 billion (2021)
Academic staff	300 professorial faculty
Undergraduates	990 (2021–22)
Postgraduates	1,310 (2021–22)
Location	Pasadena , Gold Coast , Kingdom of Sierra
Campus	124 acres (0.50 km2)
Newspaper	The Sierra Tech
Colors
Mascot	Sierratech Beavers

The Sierra Institute of Technology (known as Sierratech or SIT) is a private research university in Pasadena, Gold Coast, Kingdom of Sierra. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements since the early 20th century, and is part of the group of institutes of technology in CAS countries that are devoted to the research of pure and applied sciences. Because of its history of scientific achievements, it is considered to be one of the most prestigious and leading technical universities in the world. Sierratech is also considered to be the West Coast counterpart to MIT.

The institution was founded as a preparatory and vocational school by Amos G. Throop in 1891 and began attracting influential scientists such as George Ellery Hale, Arthur Amos Noyes, and Robert Andrews Millikan in the early 20th century. The vocational and preparatory schools were disbanded and spun off in 1910 and the college assumed its present name in 1920. During both Great War I and Great War II, it was one of the universities participating in the Sierran military research program, offering a direct commission into the Sierran Royal Navy or the Sierran Royal Air Force. Sierratech students and faculty had a role in the Space Race by running the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in the development of commercial nuclear reactors by doing research at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

Sierratech has a 124-acre campus located about 11 miles northeast of downtown Porciúncula. The vast majority of both undergraduate and postgraduate students live on-campus. Having six academic fields with an emphasis on science and engineering, Sierratech is in the top ten Sierran universities that receive research grants from the government. The Institute also has close research and training partnerships with multiple Sierran government entities, including the Royal Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration (R3A) and Royal Atomic. Scientists and engineers from the university have had a critical role in recent innovations in quantum physics, earthquake monitoring, protein engineering, and soft robotics. As of 2022, there are 61 Nobel laureates affiliated with Sierratech, the highest per capita among any Sierran university and one of the highest in Anglo-America (second only to MIT), along with two Fields Medalists and five Turing Award winners. Many faculty members of Sierratech have been elected to the Sierran Royal Academy of Sciences, while several graduates of the Institute became Chief Scientists of the Sierran Royal Air Force, directors of R3A, the Royal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Royal Atomic, or the heads of other government agencies. Many graduates also became involved in successful startups.

Campus

Sierratech entrance at 1200 E Kingdom Blvd. On the left is the Laboratory of Physics and on the right is the Hall of Mathematics and Physics.

Academics

Sierratech is a small, four-year, highly residential research university with slightly more postgraduates than undergraduates. The university is on a quarter system: the fall term is from late September until right before Christmas, the winter term is from New Year's Day until mid-March, the spring term is from late March until mid-June.

Rankings

Rankings (2022)
Source	Ranking
National
Bunker Hill Journal	4
Newstar	4
Porciúncula Times	5
Global
TIME	13
K.S. World News and Report	10

The Sierra Institute of Technology is consistently ranked in the top ten universities in the world and among the top five in the Kingdom of Sierra. For 2022, the K.S. World News and Report ranked Sierratech as 4th in Sierra overall, 3rd for most innovative, and 5th for best value. The SIT Chemistry and Earth Sciences departments are ranked number one in the country, the Physics department is third, and the Biological Sciences and Engineering departments are ranked fourth.

Undergraduate program

Sierratech has 28 majors (called "options") and 12 minors, with heavy emphasis on sciences and engineering. There are also several interdisciplinary options, including Applied Physics, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Computation and Neural Systems, Control and Dynamical Systems, Environmental Science and Engineering, Geobiology and Astrobiology, Geochemistry, Nuclear Engineering, and Planetary Astronomy. Students are required to take a core program of five terms of mathematics, five terms of physics, two terms of chemistry, one term of biology, two terms of lab courses, one term of scientific communication, three terms of physical education, and 12 terms of humanities and social science.

Postgraduate program

Sierratech offers graduate programs for a Master of Science, Engineer's Degree, Doctor of Philosophy, or MD/PhD. There is a joint program between Sierratech and the School of Medicine of the University of Southern Sierra or the USP School of Medicine that offers an MD/PhD.

Research

Sierratech is classified as having some of the highest research activity among Sierran and global universities ("R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity"), particularly in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. It manages about KS$330 million in research funding annually. The largest government agencies that contribute to it are the Royal Aeronautics and Aerospace Administration, the Royal Science Foundation, Royal Atomic, and the Ministries of Defense and the Interior.

Student life

Athletics

Sierratech has teams that compete in AACA Division III as members of the Southern Sierra Conference. While it is prestigious in scientific research, Sierratech has a relatively small athletic budget, does not award any athletic scholarships, and has a small student body compared to other AACA Division III colleges – all of which put the Institute at a disadvantage in college sports. The teams in Sierratech are known for losing streaks that last decades, and on the few occasions when one of them does win a game at the intercollegiate level, it makes news headlines.

Rivalry with MIT

Main article: Sierratech–MIT rivalry

See also

• K.S.–U.C. University Presidents Roundtable
• K.S.–China University Presidents Roundtable

Attribution notices
This page uses material from the Wikipedia page California Institute of Technology, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).