BESU was established on 24 November 1856 as the Calcutta Civil Engineering College, training personnel for the Public Works Department, and located at the Writers Building, Howrah. From 1865 to 1879 the college functioned as the Civil Engineering Department of Presidency College, Kolkata. In 1880 the college moved to a new campus at Bishop's College, Howrah, and was known as Bishop's College.[2] O
n 12 February 1920 the name was changed to Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur. The word Shibpur was deleted on 24 March 1921 and it became Bengal Engineering College.[3]
Originally a civil engineering institution, in 1932 the first batch of students received a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Degrees in Electrical Engineering (1935), Metallurgical Engineering (1939), Architecture (1949) and finally Computer Science & Technology (1982) were later introduced. In 1992 acquired the Deemed University status, finally breaking its ties with the Calcutta University.[2] Formal inauguration was done on 13 March 1993, by the then President of India, Shankar Dayal Sharma.[3] On 1 October 2004 the institution was elevated to a full fledged university with the present name.[3] It was formally inaugurated by A.P.J.
