Instituto Politécnico Nacional

The Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) was created in 1936, during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, to train engineers and technicians for Mexico’s industrialization. Its motto is ‘La Técnica al Servicio de la Patria’ (Technology in the Service of the Nation).

Do not confuse it with the UNAM, the national university, whose roots go back to the colonial era; the IPN was born as a new institution focused specifically on technical education. Cárdenas is also remembered for the oil expropriation of 1938.