The Isfahan University of Technology (IUT)[a] is a leading public university located in Isfahan, Iran. The university comprises 14 faculties and departments, serving approximately 11,000 students and employing 600 academic staff members. IUT offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs across four main disciplines: engineering, basic sciences, agriculture, and natural resources.[3] Notably, IUT was the first Iranian university to gain membership in CERN.[4] It was established in 1974 with the help of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before establishment, 60 top Iranian students received royal scholarships to pursue their PhD in the top 10 U.S. universities as part of preparation of faculty workforce.
Isfahan University of Technology started its academic activities in 1977. It is located in the central part of the country with a total area of 2300 hectares. Of this, 400 ha area has been dedicated to the main campus. The main campus resembling a small town, includes all the educational or research building as well as modern dormitories to house more than 5000 students and the residential quarters which provide the academic staff with semi-detached houses. To facilitate for students and staff, IUT also offers the health service center, shopping, sports and recreation centers inside the campus. IUT comprises a College of Agriculture (with ten departments), nine Engineering departments, three basic science departments, one department of natural resources with three divisions, seven research centers, and many research groups. Since it is located at the heart of industrial complexes, it has provided an opportunity to strengthen industrial enhancement of the city of Isfahan and Iran. The university has been successful enough to make strong ties with industries and carried out about 2000 research projects with different national industrial bodies. In terms of technology we have the honor to be the initiator of Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT)[5] which is one of the top in the Middle East. The connection between IUT and ISTT is leading to the enhancement of the cooperation between IUT and Industrial bodies in the region for more research projects, defining curriculum based on the industrial needs, providing the opportunities for students to get experienced about solving real problems based on the needs of society, such as training programs for educating our students and graduates to become entrepreneurs.[6]
History
The university was founded in 1974 and admitted its first students in 1977.[citation needed] It was founded as Aryamehr University of Technology Isfahan branch, with a significant gift of approximately 2 million square meters or 500 acres of land being contributed to the university by the locally notable and well regarded Boroumand family (brothers Abdolghaffar, Abdolrahman, Abdolrahim, Abdolkarim, Abdolrashid, and Abdollah); the university was renamed after the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Plans to make the institution the largest university in the Middle East were not achieved because of political changes in the country.
Isfahan University of Technology is a state university under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology. IUT began its academic activities in 1977 with around 800 students in five departments; the enrollment has grown to 10,000 in fourteen departments.[7]
The university was designed and planned based on models of MIT and University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (UICC) which is now known as UIC. In 1973 Dr. Mehdi Shaghaghi Zarghamee, the original president of, the then, Aryamehr University came to UICC to learn of the educational structure of the UICC College of Engineering. The newly appointed dean of the college, who knew little about the details of the college system appointed Dr. G.Ali Mansoori, Professor of the Department of UICC Energy Engineering Department, who was also of Iranian origin, to help Dr. Zarghami to get familiar with the college educational system. Dr. GA Mansoori is now a professor-emeritus at UIC [mansoori.people.uic.edu] and he can testify about this matter.
Academics
Many of the country's brightest talents choose IUT among their first choices in National University Entrance Exams.
The university runs two research centers, the Information & Communication Technology Institute, and the Subsea Research & Development Center, where the first national radar project and design, and implementation of the first Iranian submarine were carried out.
The Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) published rankings for 2018 of Iranian universities and institutes of higher education appears as follows (after Amirkabir University of Technology and before Iran University of Science and Technology):[11]
In 2024–2025, IUT's general national rank was 12,[14] and its rank in Asia was 133.[15] According to subject categories of the Times Higher Education 2020, IUT is:
Ranked first in the country for Agricultural, Forestry, Environmental and Marine Sciences fields;
Ranked 2nd in the country for life sciences;
Ranked 3rd in the country for International Outlook and Industry Income
According to the last ranking announced by Round University Ranking (RUR), Isfahan University of Technology (IUT) has been ranked as the first Iranian University in Research and International Diversity. IUT also ranked 3rd in overall ranking between 11 Iranian universities which ranked by RUR.
Research and facilities
Isfahan University of Technology was appointed as a Center of Excellence by Iran's Ministry of Science and Technology in the fields of Risk Management and Natural Hazards, Nano Technology in Environment, Steel Technology, Algebra Science, Sensor and Green Chemistry, Soil & Water Pollution, and Oil-seed Crops.
Notable alumni
Mohammad-Reza Aref is an Iranian academic, electrical engineer and politician. He was the vice president of Iran under President Mohammad Khatami. He received a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from University of Tehran and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and communication engineering from Stanford University in 1975, 1976 and 1980, respectively. Until 1994, Mohammad-Reza Aref was a faculty member of Isfahan University of Technology.
Mohammad-Ali Najafi is an Iranian politician and university professor in mathematics. He was a minister and later vice-president for planning and budget; he was a member of Tehran City Council from 2007 to 2013 and is currently nominated to the Ministry of Education. After the Iranian revolution of 1979, Najafi returned to Iran. He started working as a consultant to Mostafa Chamran and was later the president of Isfahan University of Technology (1980–1981).
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei is an Iranian politician. He was an adviser to the former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his chief of staff. He was appointed on 31 December 2007 to run the newly founded National Center for Research on Globalization. He is a former head of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei was Vice President of Iran for a short time. He studied electrical engineering and holds a bachelor's degree from Isfahan University of Technology.
Hamid Baqai is an Iranian politician who has been the head of presidential center from 9 April 2011 to 4 August 2013. He was a senior advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He holds a bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Isfahan University of Technology.
Mohammad Tabibian is an Iranian economist who served under the administration of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as deputy director of the Planning and Budget Organization. Dr Tabibian was head of the groups who made the First Five Year Plan (1989–1993) and the Second Five Year Plan of Iran (1994–1998).[17] He has taught at the Isfahan University of Technology.
Amir Faghri is an American professor and leader in the engineering profession as an educator, scientist, and administrator. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Distinguished Dean Emeritus of Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Faghri served as head of the Mechanical Engineering Department 1994–1998 and dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Connecticut from 1998 to 2006. He is arguably the world's leading expert in the area of heat pipes and a significant contributor to thermal-fluids engineering in thermal energy systems. He was one of the founding faculty members and administrators who established Isfahan University of Technology in 1977.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
