ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING STUDY 

Just three years later, in 1892, the fledgling department was offering a four-year undergraduate degree program, and over the next decade it flourished. From 1901 to 1904, class size grew from five to 30, and the faculty doubled to four.

By the early 20th century, the entire engineering school had moved to Morning side Heights along with the rest of the University, and Pupin set up his storied laboratory, the Marcellus Hartley Laboratory, in the basement of Philosophy Hall, where he oversaw the development of lasting contributions to electrical engineering. It was there that Edwin Howard Armstrong did most of his work, including creating a receiver and radio transmitter that resulted in FM.

The World Wars: Motors and Radio

Under the leadership of Walter Slichter, who chaired the department from 1910-1941, Columbia engineers played a key role in giving the U.S. an edge in radio communications and electrical technology. A core group of faculty led the way, including Slichter, Morton Arendt, John H. Morecroft and the legendary Armstrong.