Though this institution received its charter as a University in the year 1961, it has a much longer history as a distinguished seat of learning in the engineering sciences. It started its career in 1921 as the Mughalpura Technical College, deriving its name from the famous suburb of the old city of Lahore, richly dotted with architectural heritage of the great Mughals including the magnificent Shalimar Gardens. Its more familiar name of the pre-University era, the Maclagan Engineering College, was given to it in 1923 when Sir Edwards Maclagan, the then Governor of the Punjab, laid the foundation stone of the building, now called the Main Block, which still retains its majesty in spite of the wear and tear of over eight decades. At that stage the institution offered courses of study in two disciplines, namely Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
The year 1932 is a major milestone in the evolution of this institution when it was affiliated with the University of the Punjab for award of a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering. At the dawn of Independence in 1947, it had well-established B.Sc. Degree courses in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, and the quality of its scholastic standards won it a place of prestige throughout the British India.
In 1954 it started a Bachelor's Degree course in Mining Engineering, the first-ever of its kind in the country. But its massive expansion and development commenced in 1961 on its transformation into a West Pakistan University of Engineering & Technology. It set for itself a variety of goals, but the first priority was to start teaching of those disciplines which were crucial for national development but were not catered for by any institution in the country. Accordingly, in the sixties, Bachelor's degree courses were started in Chemical Engineering, Petroleum & Gas Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Architecture and City & Regional Planning.
Later, the University concentrated its energies and resources on developing its postgraduate programmes. By 1970's it had established over a score of Master's Degree Courses in diverse specializations of engineering, architecture, planning and allied disciplines. Ph.D. Degree Programme was also instituted in a number of disciplines. The process of consolidating and strengthening continued to be a major concern of the University, with phenomenal increase in students enrollment in seventies. Consequently the University College of Engineering, Taxila was established in 1975. For three years it functioned at Sahiwal and was shifted to its campus at Taxila in 1978. This college has now been upgraded to University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila.
Establishing traditions of research in the engineering and allied disciplines has been a major goal of the University. With this end in view, the University established a Directorate of Research, Extension and Advisory Services which strives for the promotion and organization of research activities.
