The Federal University of Campina Grande (, UFCG) is a public research university located in Campina Grande, ParaÃÂba, Brazil. Together with the Federal University of ParaÃÂba, it is the main university of the state of ParaÃÂba. It was established after splitting from UFPB in 2002.
UFCG is one of the leading technological and scientific institutes of northeastern Brazil. It was mentioned in a 2001 edition of Newsweek magazine as a technopole - among 9 other around the world - that represents a new vision for technology. It was again quoted in 2003 as the Brazilian Silicon Valley. It is one of the five institutions to have a continuous international concept from the Coordenadoria de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de NÃÂvel Superior (grade over 5) in the Electrical Engineering Postgraduate Program, and one of the two to simultaneously hold a concept of 5 stars in the Technological Department (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) from the Ministry of Education.
The higher education in the state of ParaÃÂba has its origins in the creation of its first high education school, the Northeastern School of Agronomy, in 1934, in the town of Areia.
In the 1950s, a government initiative called "integration of the technical-industrial development of the State", made Campina Grande a new scientific and cultural center in ParaÃÂba, which made possible the creation of the Polytechnic School - The embryo of the UFCG. It focused on finances and business applied to regional markets. Funding from the government provided the structure and equipment for the institute, and foreign companies gave endowments.
In 1955, there were eleven Higher education institutes in ParaÃÂba. The Universidade Federal da ParaÃÂba was established in December 1960, by state law nú 1,366. Its federalization was installed by law nú 3,835. In 1973, the university council approved the reform of the academic structure of the institution, in resolution nú 12/73, accordingly with decrees nús 53 and 252, and law nú 5.540.
In 1963 the Polytechnic school started to offer an Electrical Engineering degree, held by the faculty of the Civil Engineering department. From this year on, there was an influx of professors from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), and the Aeronautics Technological Institute (ITA) in São Paulo, with whom the university maintained close bonds in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1967, the UFPB campus in Campina Grande received one of the first supercomputers of Brazil, a US$500,000 IBM mainframe.
The Universidade Federal de Campina Grande was established by law nú 10,419, with its main campus in the city of Campina Grande, and is now composed of the Technological Center, Humanities Center, and Health and Biological Center.
With 64 companies in the area of Information Technology, with a total income of approximately R$27 million a year, the technology sector grows every year in Campina Grande, A reason for the opening of so many enterprises is the quality of higher education in the University of Campina Grande and its major degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computing, as well as the creation of the Technopole of ParaÃÂba Paqtc-PB, which provides financial, institutional and technical support for these new companies.
The UFCG Center of Sciences and Technology - CCT and Center of Electrical Engineering and Computing - CEEI are also responsible for developments in this area. Each year almost half the students graduate in technology fields. Multinational companies like Honda, Fiat, Motorola, Coca-Cola, and Samsung recruit graduates each year. Additionally, those companies and others like Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Petrobras and Northel, Intel, Sony and Foxconn, have formed partnerships with the institution and provide most of the endowment for installation of new laboratories and funding for research projects.