The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering. Its 124-acre (50 ha) primary campus is located approximately 11 mi (18 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Despite its small size, 31 Caltech alumni and faculty have won the Nobel Prize and 66 have won the United States National Medal of Science or Technology. There are 110 faculty members who have been elected to the National Academies. In addition, numerous faculty members are associated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as NASA. Caltech managed $332 million in 2011 in sponsored research and $1.75 billion for its endowment in 2012. Caltech was ranked first in the 2012–2013 Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the second year running, as well as ranking first in Engineering & Technology and Physical Sciences. It also has a long standing rivalry with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
