Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University
URL: http://www.rmit.edu.au
Okay, Xenex has prompted me to do a more thorough writeup for RMIT University.
RMIT University is a university that has it's main campus in Melbourne, University. It's mainly known for being rock solid in terms of engineering, particularily aerospace, communications and computer systems engineering as well as having one of the best computer science courses around (in Melbourne at least). It also includes a TAFE school.
History0
RMIT started out as the
Working Men's College in June, 1887 by founder Francis Ormond. Essentially it was aimed at teaching
men practical skills to utilize in the
workforce. Although the practical skills proved useful,
staff noticed that students lacked a grasp of the
theoretical aspects of various subjects, which obviously made skills more difficult to learn. It eventually renamed itself to The Melbourne Technical College in 1934 and finally it's present name of
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1960.
Comparison to other Universities1
RMIT is seen largely as a practical oriented university. Meaning that students are expected to start 'doing things' as quickly as possible. My own personal experience is in Computer Systems Engineering and we started building little electronics kits in the first semester; designing and constructing our own projects by the fourth semester, whereas my friends who went to Monash University don't look like they'll be designing/building anything until third year (in a 4 year course). Monash seems to be focussed largely on theory. If you're looking for a US-centric idea, think MIT. The University of Melbourne can be thought of as Harvard. (I can't think of a comparison of Monash at the moment).
Campuses2
In Melbourne
- City Campus
- Bundoora Campus
- Brunswick Campus
In the rest of
Victoria
- Fishermans Bend
- Point Cook
- Hamilton Flexible Learning Centre
In the rest of the
World
0 http://www.rmit.edu.au/heritage/history.htm
1 YMMV. I'm not interested in a penis waving contest. I'm simply reporting the reputation that seems to be held. For the record, I go to RMIT, but I think all unis are equally good. For a supposedly practical university I've seen some really baffling decisions made. (We're still doing manual enrolements thanks to incompetance, yet Monash has not only gone to online enrolements, but also SMSing your exam results. And on the other side, my friend in Melbourne Uni says that Uni Melb people tend to be quite snobish. (Hehe the only thing all Melbourne universities seem to agree on ;). Short answer: Same shit, different universities.
2 http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse/About%20RMIT%20University%2FRMIT%20Campuses%20and%20Sites/