The Faculty of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico is the division of the aforementioned university in charge of engineering and applied studies in the physical and natural sciences. At the undergraduate level, it offers thirteen majors and some graduate programs. In fall 2008, the school of engineering had over 10,900 undergraduate students and 1,115 graduate students and postdocs. Chemistry and chemical engineering are offered neither by the School of Engineering nor the Faculty of Sciences, but by a separate Faculty of Chemistry.

History

The Faculty of Engineering at the UNAM has its origins as the Real Seminario de Mineria (Royal School of Mining), which building is still standing near the Zocalo in Mexico City. After the university was closed in 1833, several scientific institutes were established in Mexico, all of them related to some branch of engineering. These eventually merged into a single institution which in 1910 was put under the supervision of the newly created UNAM and renamed to Escuela Nacional de Ingeniería (National School of Engineering). In 1954 the school changes its location to Ciudad Universitaria. In 1959, with the creation of the Engineering Institute and the availability of its first graduate program, the school changes its name to Facultad de Ingeniería (Faculty of Engineering).

Organization and departments

The faculty of engineering is organized in divisions (somewhat the equivalent of departments), each under the direct supervision of a Head of division. These are themselves coordinated and supervised by the faculty dean, currently José Antonio Hernández Spriú. Is in charge of subjects such as physics and mathematics, every student has to take one or more subjects of this department, specially during the first 4 semesters. These subjects on fundamental science are then common to all students and are often regarded as the most difficult among all. In charge of the majors in the name, is the contact between the school and the industry, there are some programs for young entrepreneurial and some courses that may resemble a BA program in US. The civil Engineering division is one of the oldest divisions and has great prestige. Many famous researchers, and business leaders, such as Carlos Slim have studied in this division. This division is organizes the Mining, Petroleum, Geophysics and Geology Engineering bachelor Programs. Is one of the oldest divisions in the school and currently has some joint programs with PEMEX among other petroleum companies. As the name implies, this division is in charge of courses and diplomas for active professionals who wish to stay up to date with current technological trends or wish to stay in contact with the academic community in some way other than the conventional graduate programs. In charge of cultural activities and some subjects, such as literature, ethics and history.

Graduate programs

Each division within the Faculty of Engineering organizes graduate programs. There are also graduate programs in cooperation with other graduate programs and other higher education institutions in Mexico.

Location and facilities

The Faculty of Engineering has numerous facilities, most of which are located in Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City, between Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Administration. It has two libraries for undergraduate students and one for graduate ones. It also has some of Mexico's finest laboratories for civil and mechanical engineering, and various laboratories of electronic engineering.

Noted alumni and faculty

Rankings

According to the QS Universities Rankings (2024) the Faculty of Engineering is positioned in the following rankings: Engineering Petroleum 28 Engineering and Technology: 66 Previous rankings (2022): Civil Engineering:51-100 Mechanical Engineering:151-200

Student organizations

The school of engineering has several student organizations, among them a Tuna, a chorus and a photo club. Each major has its own student organization, which is in charge of promoting activities related to each specialization, such as extracurricular courses, workshops or congresses.

Presidents of SAFIR