If you’re a fan of sci-fi shows like Westworld or The Black Mirror, you’re probably well aware of the increasingly large role technology plays in our lives, and how some see this growth as a problem. The only true way to ensure that we minimize misuse of technology, as you know, is to learn as much as we can and use it for good. To this end, many colleges these days serve as grounds for experimentation with the proper use of new technology. These innovations have changed the experience of higher learning in myriad ways, with colleges molding their course structures and campuses around new experiences. Here’s a partial list of schools for tech enthusiasts, where you can tinker to your heart’s content and ensure you can help save humanity in the inevitable robot wars:
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
Flickr user Tobin
In 2015, a study revealed that, of all the colleges in the United States, the highest percentage of graduates who went on to earn a Ph.D. came from the California Institute of Technology. The success of CalTech students isn’t a coincidence; the environment fostered on the Pasadena campus is one of discovery, achievement, and growth. CalTech is home to several students pursuing solutions to the energy crisis who study one of California’s largest sources of solar energy, installed on campus in 2011.
In the same vein, the campus recently underwent a facelift, the crown jewel of which is the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology. Opened in 2009, the steel-and-glass building uses innovative technology to maintain an environmentally friendly status. With bamboo walls, floor to ceiling windows, and reduced water intake, the Annenberg Center provides cover to hardworking students who tackle their studies within. CalTech’s green technologies help to inspire students who go on to earn PhDs in various tech-related fields.
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC
Flickr user Wake Forest University
In today’s day and age, everyone with a smartphone wanders around 24/7 with a personal computer in their pockets that acts as a calendar, communication device, and organizer. We have apps that do everything from touching up photographs to flinging angry birds around with a slingshot. In the heart of North Carolina, a state that prides itself on its institutions of higher learning, Wake Forest University takes our obsession with apps to the next level. The school’s Wake Forest Campus Life mobile app, which updates around the clock, provides students with the latest updates on events and campus news.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the only app uniquely designed for students at the Winston-Salem university. The Ride the Wake app reflects the ubiquity of the school’s shuttle buses, giving students a constantly updating schedule of when the closest bus will arrive. The app was designed by and for Wake Forest students, taking advantage of their school’s uniquely high computer-to-student ratio, with slightly over one PC on campus for each student.
Pomona College
Claremont, CA
Flickr user Dave & Margie Hill
Despite its small size, with an enrollment of 1,660, Pomona College is a giant in the world of technologically advanced colleges. Their reputation earned them the top slot in a 2012 “Top Ten College Campuses for Tech” ranking from Mashable, a website devoted to current and future uses for new technology. Pomona’s technological devotion centers around their Science, Technology, and Society (STS) program, which asks students to consider technology in a historical sense. STS scholars trace the intersection of community with technological advancements through history, philosophy, and sociology classes, forming complex theories on the way we use the devices at our fingertips.
The Pomona campus is one of the most “plugged-in” in the nation through the consistency of their high-speed wireless network. Additionally, Pomona is home to “The Farm,” an ongoing experiment in agricultural sustainability that takes the form of a one-acre organic farm, open year-round. At the center of the farm is the Earth Dome, an adobe structure that exemplifies sustainable construction. Pomona’s commitment to technology takes them into the 21st century and beyond through their showcasing of science, technology, and agriculture.
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Flickr user Wes Jackson
The history of Purdue University is one of discovery and innovation. Purdue engineers are responsible for advancements in steam engines, developing the Lockheed Electra 10-E plane made famous by Amelia Earhart, and, perhaps most strikingly, the advent of the transistor, cultivated through the school’s atomic research. With a legacy this rich, today’s Boilermakers have big shoes to fill. To this end, the continuous reputation of the campus as one of the best for technology in the nation certainly helps.
Discovery Park, a complex of gorgeous buildings designed straight out of the space age, is home to some of the most important technological study in the nation. Their mission is to “enable multidisciplinary research that impacts Global Health, Global Sustainability and Global Security,” which they accomplish through hard-hitting research targeting many important areas. The walls of Discovery Park include state of the art microscopes, molecular beams, massive auditoriums, and even a model nuclear reactor! For techies, this is your Disney World, and a must-attend school for anyone interested in inventions or innovations.
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