U.S. private university in Cambridge, famous for its scientific and technological training and research. Founded in 1861, MIT has schools of architecture and planning, engineering, humanities and social sciences, management (the Sloan School), and science and a college of health sciences and technology. Though it is best known for its programs in engineering and the physical sciences, other areas such as economics, political science, urban studies, linguistics, and philosophy are also strong. Among its facilities are a nuclear reactor, a computation centre, geophysical and astrophysical observatories, a linear accelerator, a space research centre, supersonic wind tunnels, an artificial-intelligence laboratory, a centre for cognitive science, and an international-studies centre