Kyiv Polytechnic Institute


The Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is a national public technological university in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Name

In the long period of existence, the name of the institute has changed several times:
  • 1898–1918 Kiev Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II
  • 1918–1934 Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
  • 1934–1948 Kyiv Industrial Institute
  • 1948–1968 Order of Lenin Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
  • 1968–1992 Order of Lenin Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in memory of the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution
  • 1992–1995 Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
  • 1995–2016 National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute"
  • 2016– National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute"

    History

Establishment

The institute was founded as the Kiev Polytechnic Institute of Emperor Alexander II on 31 August 1898. Its establishment was the result of partnership between the state and private sector encouraged by Sergei Witte, who served as finance minister of the Russian Empire at that time. The financing for the institution was provided by Kyiv City Duma and private donors, including the Tereshchenko family and Lazar Brodsky. The construction of the current building complex was finished in 1902. Until then, the institute rented space at the building of Commercial School located on Vorovsky Street. At that time, it had four departments: Mechanical, Chemical, Agricultural, and Civil Engineering. The first enrolment constituted of 360 students. Prominent scientists Dmitri Mendeleev, Nikolai Zhukovsky and Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev provided substantial scientific and organizational assistance in the founding of the institute.
Viktor Kyrpychov, the founder of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, became the first rector of the KPI. It was largely due to Kyrpychov's efforts that such professors like V.P. Yermakov, S.M. Reformatsky, M.I. Konovalov or Vladimir Zworykin became members of the first faculty. The institute's scientific library was organized by Ukrainian art historian Mykola Biliashivskyi. The institute's director at that time was appointed directly by the imperial government after nomination by the Ministry of Finance.

Development under the Tsarist rule

Between its establishment and 1913 the number of students in the institute grew from 360 to 2,313. The full course of studies lasted 4 years. In reality graduation usually took a longer time, and the median age of the university's alumni was 27–28 years. The social origin of KPI's students were much more diverse than in other higher schools of that time: between 1897 and 1913 the share of nobles studying in the establishment fell from 47.7 to 36.2%, meanwhile that of peasants' children grew from 5.9 to 16.3%. The share of Jews among KPI's students in 1907 stood at 23%, contravenin the established quotas. The institute was involved in the 1899 All-Russian student strike, which resulted in arrest and exile of 32 students. In the beginning of 1899, the underground organizational committee was established and had a close relationship with the Kyiv Council of United Communities and Organizations. During the Revolution of 1905 the institute served as a major centre of revolutionary movement in Kyiv, with its students being affiliated with radical groups. A "Ukrainian commune", which consisted of 150-200 students of the establishment, co-operated with Ukrainian social-democratic and socialist revolutionary parties.
In 1909 the Kyiv Society of Aerial Navigation was founded at the institute, involving such prominent figures as Igor Sikorsky, and Nikolai Delaunay. Another KPI graduate Fedir Tereshchenko became known as a pioneer of airplane construction. Among prominent figures who taught at the institute during that time were Grigory Dubelir, Yevhen Paton, Stephen Timoshenko, Lev Pisarzhevsky and Mykola Pymonenko. During the First World War in 1915 part KPI was temporarily evacuated to Rostov on Don, and a field hospital was created on the institute's premises.

Soviet rule

Actively developing, the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute became the basis for expanding and strengthening the network of higher education in Kyiv. In 1923–1933 several institutions were created on the basis of departments and individual specialties of the KPI. On March 1, 1919 Engineering Courses for the staff of the Red Army were established at the institute, which in 1937 became the basis for the M. I. Kalinin Kyiv Military School, the predecessor of modern Military Institute of Telecommunications and Informatization of NTUU "KPI".
During the 1920s and 1930s the institute played a major role in the industrialization and became one of the biggest establishments of higher technical education in the Soviet Union. At that time the recruitment was students was performed according to the class principle, and between the late 1920s and mid-1930s the share of students with a working class background rose from 44 to 68 per cent. The institute's students were employed by major industrial enterprises of the USSR.
During the German-Soviet War many students, alumni and members of the educational staff of the instutite volunteered or were mobilized into the Red Army, fighting on various fronts. The instutute itself was evacuated to Tashkent. During the war many of its building were destroyed, and its property was plundered. After the liberation of Kyiv in November 1943 the instutute resumed its activities, and its staff engaged in restoration works.
On January 1, 1954 the Publishing-Polygraphic Institute Since was founded in Kyiv on the basis of the arts and crafts school of printers No 18, as an educational and consultative point of the Moscow printing institute. It became part of the KPI in 1989, and has been known under its modern name since September 6, 2004.

Independent Ukraine

In 1995 the institute was reformed into a university and received national status. In September 2003 KPI became one of the first Ukrainian universities to sign the European Magna Charta Universitatum.

Kyiv Polytechnic Institute during Russo-Ukrainian war

In 2022, during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute faced new challenges arising from the conflict.

Defense support and charity

KPI expressed active support for the defense of the country. The university created a charity fund to purchase military equipment at the request of students and graduates who joined the Armed Forces.

Collaboration with the University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield began cooperation with KPI, which provides a wide range of practical assistance. The partnership will see the University of Sheffield donates £20,000 to build a bomb shelter on the KPI campus. It will also provide laboratory equipment and open access to its library resources, enabling KPI staff and students to access various online journals, texts, and resources.

Transfer of information systems to the cloud

One of the crucial steps KPI took was moving its critical digital infrastructure to cloud storage. This made it possible to ensure the university's functioning virtually, mainly to conduct training in remote mode and to ensure the management and storage of large volumes of data. The initiator of this process was Andrii Hubskyi, a KPI graduate who asked his partners to assist in matters of communication with the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Thanks to his efforts, cooperation with Amazon was established, and the process of migration of critical digital infrastructure to the cloud environment was implemented.

Points of invincibility

There are several security points on the university campus. One of them is in the first building. Employees of the Department of Property and Social Affairs created it. The room has laptops, high-speed Starlink Internet, light, and printing equipment. The item is located in the 157th office. In total, at least five such points operate on the territory of KPI.

Shelters

KPI presented the project of the innovative bomb shelter CLUST SPACE, which is being created in the central library. The bomb shelter will be located in a basement with an area of 600 square meters. The design project of the multifunctional shelter was developed by the studio of architect Pavlo Peker, who has experience working with similar projects in Iraq and Libya.

Organisation

Institutes

  • Educational, Science, and Scientific Complex "Institute of Applied Systems Analysis" ;
  • Educational and Research Institute of Telecommunication Systems ;
  • Institute of Energy Saving and Energy Management ;
  • Institute of Aerospace Technologies ;
  • Institute of Special Communication and Information Security ;
  • Mechanics and Machine-Building Institute ;
  • Institute of Materials Science and Welding ;
  • Publishing and Printing Institute
  • Physics and Engineering Institute ;
  • Inter-branch Institute of Post-graduate Education;
  • Institute of Pre-admission education and Vocational Guidance.

    Faculties

  • Applied Mathematics ;
  • Biomedical Engineering ;
  • Biotechnology and Biotechnics ;
  • Chemical Engineering ;
  • Chemical Technology ;
  • Electric Power Engineering and Automatics ;
  • Electronics ;
  • Heat and Power Engineering ;
  • Informatics and Computer Engineering ;
  • Instrumentation Engineering ;
  • Linguistics ;
  • Management and Marketing ;
  • Physics and Mathematics ;
  • Radio Engineering ;
  • Sociology and Law.

    Facilities

The university has two campuses, the central one being located in Kyiv, and the other in town of Slavutych.
The Kyiv campus of the university is located near the city centre in a park named after the university.
Almost 9,000 students from outside Kyiv are accommodated in 21 dormitories, 3 of them for married students. The living conditions at the dormitories is a matter of numerous complaints of their inhabitants, with four people sharing a single room measuring 18 square-meters.
The institute has an outpatient medical department for employers and students.
File:Менделєєв у КПІ.JPG|thumb|Monument to chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who was the first chairman of the examination committee
The institute also considers organized leisure a very important factor in bringing up young specialists.
The Knowledge Square is the centre of the entire KPI complex, measuring approx. 105 x 100 meters. The Knowledge Square is connected to one of the city's main thoroughfare, Prospect Peremohy. Meetings, festivals, and graduation ceremonies take place at the square.
The university also has an assembly hall with 1,750 seats. It was opened in August 1984.
Various sport facilities also exist at the institute. There are training grounds, soccer fields, volleyball and basketball courts for student use. There are many nationally rated athletes among the students of this institute.
Some Institutes were organized on the KPI basis. Among them are: the Civil Engineering Institute, Technological Institute of Light and Food Industry, the Institute of Civil Aviation, Automobile and Road Building Institute, Agricultural and others. In 1934–1944 the KPI was called an Industrial Institute.