Sharif University of Technology

Sharif University of Technology   (University)
Formation	1966
Headquarters	Tehran, Iran
Type	Public
Iran's leading institution for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Sharif University of Technology (Perisan: Dāneŝgāhe Sannatiye Ŝarif) is a public university in Tehran, Iran, and is widely considered the nation's leading institution for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The international campus of the university is located in Kish Island, Persian Gulf.

Established in 1966 under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, it was formerly named the Aryamehr University of Technology and for a short period after the 1979 revolution, the university was called Tehran University of Technology.

Today, the university provides both undergraduate and graduate programs in 15 main departments. The student body consists of about 6,000 undergraduate students and 4,700 graduate students from all the 30 provinces of Iran. Funding for Sharif University is provided by the government and through private funding. Undergraduate admission to Sharif is limited to the top 800 of the 500,000 students who pass the national entrance examination administered annually by the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.

In the 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences rankings, SUT is ranked 5th in the Middle East. It is in the top 251–275 universities in the world and 37th in Asia in the 2014 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In the 2014 Times Higher Education top 100 for newer universities (less than 50 years old), SUT ranked 1st in the Middle East, 6th in Asia, and 27th in the world.

Founded in 1966, SUT was established to train and supply part of the required expert human resources of the country on an equal level to credible universities of the world. Compared with other worldwide universities, it is a young and growing pioneer in both basic and applied sciences. The main aims of SUT are: (1) to create an organization where students can be instructed in both theoretical and applied sciences, with special emphasis on the particular needs of Islamic society; (2) to teach students the advanced knowledge and techniques required to participate in the fields of engineering and technology and to cultivate them into creative engineers, good scientists, and innovative technologists; and (3) to educate engineers who are ready to be employed, who contribute significantly to their jobs, and who have a strong sense of public responsibility and a desire to continue to learn. The emphasis is placed on the promotion of multidisciplinary research at the graduate and doctoral levels. Based on that, SUT provides a scientific and dynamic environment for those who are trying to gain knowledge. In other words, SUT is a place for those who are trying to understand and comprehend scientific realities and facts, and are trying to convey those to others.

Notable alumni

The university is known for its large number of alumni who join the academic world, including the late Maryam Mirzakhani, Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University and the first female to be awarded a Fields Medal.

Several SUT alumni have been active in the industry. Akbar Torkan, director of Petro-Pars Co. and previous Transportations Minister, Ahmad Ghalebaani, former managing director of SAIPA, Salman A. Avestimehr, an American-Iranian professor and co-director of the Communication Sciences Institute at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Southern California, managing director of Iran national petroleum company can be named as some of the more famous alumni.

Many of the SUT alumni have entered in politics, including Mohammad Ali Najafi former minister of higher education and member of Tehran City Council, Es'hagh Jahangiri, former Minister of Industries and Mines, Abbas Mohtaj, former commander of Iranian Navy, Mohammad Atrianfar, former head of Tehran City Council, Morteza Alviri, former Mayor of Tehran, Ali Larijani, speaker of Majlis and former presidential candidate and former head of IRIB and Mohsen Sazegara, former government official, political activist. Also, some of the opposition groups outside Iran have members who are SUT alumni. These members include Foad Mostafa Soltani, former leader of Komala political party of Iranian Kurdistan and Maryam Rajavi, president of People's Mujahedin of Iran Organization.

 

An Alumnus on Wikispooks

Person	Died	Nationality	Summary	Description
Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan	11 January 2012	Iran	Academic Scientist	An assassinated Iranian nuclear weapons specialist

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