Its peak years were the 1950s, when São Carlos became a manufacturing center, with relevant industrial expression in São Paulo state. The industrial sector also developed through workshops that incorporated the coffee industry. The manufacture of processing machinery, shoes, fertilizers, hardware, furniture, pasta, cigars, as well as activities such as tailory, breweries, foundries, sawmills, weaving, pottery and pencil production expanded the economy of São Carlos in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, with the expansion of refrigeration, new factories of machinery and tractors arrived. Numerous small- and medium-sized companies which provided products and services were also established. In the second half of the 20th century, the city received a boost of technological and higher educational development when in 1953 the Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos, or the Engineering School of the University of São Paulo, was created. In the 1970s, the Federal University of São Carlos was launched. São Carlos is located on the geographic center of the São Paulo state, approximately from the city of São Paulo. The city is the center of a microregion with 308,777 inhabitants. Its altitude is over 856 m, offering a mild altitude climate. Most of the year the city is windy, sunny and with mild temperatures at night. For this reason the city is nicknamed ""Cidade do Clima"" (Weather City) and celebrates once a year an event called ""Festa do Clima"", or "Weather Festival". The city has a total area of , which includes two districts to the north ("Santa Eudóxia" and "Água Vermelha"), one district to the west ("Bela Vista São-carlense"), and one district to the east ("Vila Nery"). The municipality is included in the geomorphological province of the Basaltic and sandstone slopes, between the provinces of the Western Plateau (to the north) and the Paulista Periférica Depression (to the south). In São Carlos, included in the Paraná Basin, outcrops are found of the following geological formations: Bauru (Bauru Group), on the back of the slopes (Planalto de São Carlos), where the largest portion of the urban nucleus, further north; Serra Geral (São Bento Group), in the narrow region of slopes where relief occurs (slopes); Botucatu (São Bento Group), which contains the lower part of the slopes, further south, besides including the Guarani Aquifer.