Our history
Curtin University of Technology can trace its history back to the opening of Perth Technical School in 1900. By the 1930s, calls for higher professional education and applied scientific research at the now Perth Technical College opened discussions on the establishment of what was to become the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT). WAIT eventually opened in 1967 and became Curtin University of Technology in 1987.
Research programs were established at WAIT as early as 1968, and the first Master degree (by research) was awarded in 1974. Research groups had to fund their work almost entirely from external sources but they shared a strong commitment to research and a belief in its role in generating benefits to the economy as well as improvements to the teaching program.
Today Curtin has earned a reputation for delivering innovative solutions to real problems. Strengths in science and technology, life sciences, humanities, business and social sciences, form the basis of a research strategy to build world-class capability through building strategic partnerships and focusing on the total needs of partners and clients.
Research income for the university in 2007 was almost $57 million with approximately 1,800 students undertaking research at Curtin.
