Introduction

Establishment of the US Military Academy at West Point in 1802 is considered by many as the beginning of engineering education in the United States. RPI offered the first Civil Engineering curricula in 1824. Programs in mechanical engineering were established by the mid 1800’s. Several events that were to prompt the establishment and development of electrical engineering programs were

  1. Demonstration of the telegraph between Washington and Baltimore in May 1849
  2. Opening of the first telephone exchange in New Haven in January 1878
  3. Opening in 1882 of Edison’s Pearl Street Station in New York City for the distribution of electric power
  4. Marconi’s success with transatlantic wireless telegraphy in 1901
  5. Demonstration of radio telephony in 1915 followed by the establishment of radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh in 1920
  6. First television demonstration in 1923 followed by the first TV station WGY in 1928.