Driving around Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in fall, 2021.
8th Street
College Avenue
15th St
Peoples Avenue
Burdett Avenue
Sage Avenue

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a highly rated research university in Troy, New York, with additional campuses in Hartford and Groton, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 by Stephen van Rensselaer and Amos Eaton for the "application of science to the common purposes of life" and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere.[7] Numerous American colleges or departments of applied sciences were modeled after Rensselaer.[8]

Built on a hillside, RPI's 265-acre (107 ha) campus overlooks the city of Troy and the Hudson River, and is a blend of traditional and modern architecture. The institute operates an on‑campus business incubator and the 1,250-acre (510 ha) Rensselaer Technology Park.[9]

RPI is organized into six main schools which contain 37 departments, with emphasis on science and technology.[10] It is recognized for its degree programs in engineering, computing, business and management, information technology, the sciences, design, and liberal arts. As of 2017, RPI's faculty and alumni include six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, eight Fulbright Scholarship recipients, and a Nobel Prize winner in Physics; in addition, 86 faculty or alumni are members of the National Academy of Engineering, 17 of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, eight of the National Academy of Medicine, one of the National Academy of Public Administration, and nine of the National Academy of Inventors.[11] RPI has been ranked since 1970 among the top 50 American universities.[12]