Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University (Санкт-Петербургский Государственный Политехнический Университет, abbreviated as SPbPU; also, formerly "Saint Petersburg State Technical University", abbreviated as SPbSTU) is a major Russian technical university situated in Saint Petersburg. Other former names included Peter the Great Polytechnic Institute (Политехнический Институт императора Петра Великого) and Kalinin Polytechnic Institute (Ленинградский Политехнический Институт имени Калинина). The university is considered to be one of the top research facilities in Russian Federation and CIS member states and is a leading educational facility in the field of applied physics and mathematics, industrial engineering, chemical engineering, aerospace engineering and many other academic disciplines. On a national scale, SPbPU in Russian Federation is somewhat akin to Caltech in the United States (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology is normally referred to as "The Russian MIT"). Currently (2012) SPbPU is ranked among the top 400 in the World. It houses one of the country's most advanced research labs in hydro–aerodynamics. University's alumni include famous Nobel Prize winners, such as Pyotr Kapitsa, prominent nuclear physicists and atomic weapon designers such as (Yulii Khariton, Nikolay Dukhov), world-class aircraft designers and aerospace engineers, such as (Yulii Khariton, Oleg Antonov, Nikolai Polikarpov and Georgy Beriev). The university offers academic programs to Bachelor, Master's and Doctorate degree levels.