The Royal Proclamation of the Maharaja of Travancore in 1937 establishing the former Travancore University, paved the way for setting up the first Engineering College at Trivandrum. In 1939 the College came into existence with 3 streams , viz Civil, Electrical & Mechanical Engineering having a strength of 21 students in each discipline for Degree & Diploma courses together.
Maj. Prof. Mathewman was the first Principal from 1939 to 1943. The beginning of the College almost coincided with the bursting out of the Second World War and had its infancy amidst bombings and war clouds. In spite of these adverse situations it could achieve substantial progress The intake of degree students grew to 30 towards the end of the War period and to 40 after that to meet the post war demand. Consequent to the reorganization of States in 1952 the strength of intake further increased to 80 and later to 100. To cope up with the demands of Engineers on the implementation of the 5 Year Plans and also to accommodate the students from the Malabar region which was added to form Kerala state in 1957 the intake was doubled. Currently the admissions to degree level stands at 600.
Post Graduate programs were introduced in 1958 & many new branches were added later. Today the total student strength of the College exceeds 3100 and the strength of Faculty is 270. The College which commenced operations in 1939 from the former office and residence of the Chief Engineer --Popworth Bunglow, was shifted to the sprawling campus of 45 hectares at Kulathoor in 1961.
Currently the College offers the following courses:
Civil , Mechanical, Electrical & Electronics, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Applied Electronics & Instrumentation, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering & Architecture at under graduate level and 19 Courses in different disciplines at Post Graduate level. Part time & Full Time MBA programs and MCA are also run by the College.
