Carnegie Technical

The Carnegie Technical was founded in 1936 as a journal for engineering students. According to their first issue: 

 

    “Our policy is to present to scientific and technical advocates articles of interest about things not ordinarily met in the class-rooms or in text-books, and to discuss problems of interest in engineering education.” 

 

By the time their last issue was published in 1974, the Technical’s scope expanded to include art and articles on a variety of non-technical topics, including theater, current events, and urban planning. Along with other student publications during this period, it struggled to find staff, authors, and advertisers. In its last several years of publication, there was often only one or two major articles published in each issue. 

The Technical accepted articles from Carnegie Mellon students and faculty as well as scholars, industrialists, and thinkers from outside the University. The journal was widely distributed among scholarly societies, universities, and corporations. In 1960, it was one of five college technical publications subscribed to by the Library of Congress. 

The Technical became known for its abstract and avant-garde cover designs produced by Carnegie Mellon students as works of art gained increasing importance within its pages. The art advisor was longtime faculty member Robert Lepper who taught Andy Warhol among others. Notable artistic contributors included Philip Pearlstein.  

In addition to scholarly research articles, the Technical published work about the university itself. These works frequently took the form of editorials engaging with the curriculum, workload, and student interests. Long-form works on topics such as the physics of Sweepstakes/Buggy, the campus master plan, and the operation of the campus power plant were also featured.