COE has a rich history as reflected in the College's historical timeline.
- 1885 October 13, Georgia Gov. Henry D. McDaniel signs a bill appropriating $65,000 to create a technical school.
- 1888 Four professors are hired and 84 students begin classes at the Georgia School of Technology. First academic program is in mechanical engineering and the only degree offered is a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.
- 1890 The first two students graduate.
- 1896 The Schools of Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering are established.
- 1899 The School of Textile Engineering is established.
- 1901 The School of Chemical Engineering is established.
- 1930 The Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics is created with a $300,000 grant from the Guggenheim Foundation.
- 1934 The Engineering Experiment Station (the forerunner of the Georgia Tech Research Institute) begins operation with $5,000 of state support.
- 1945 The School of Industrial Engineering is established.
- 1948 The Board of Regents authorizes Tech to change its name to the Georgia Institute of Technology.
- 1952 The Board of Regents votes to make Tech co-educational. The first two female students enroll in the fall quarter.
- 1961 Tech admits its first African-American students.
- 1985 The School of Materials Science and Engineering is created.
- 1990 Students enroll in classes at Georgia Tech-Lorraine which offers graduate programs for European students.
- 1994 G. Wayne Clough (CE '64, MS CE `65) is the first alumnus to become president of Tech.
- 1997 Department of Biomedical Engineering established as a joint venture between Georgia Tech College of Engineering and Emory University School of Medicine. First joint venture of its kind between a public and private academic institution.
- 1998 Georgia Tech-Savannah regional engineering program established expanding Tech's service to the state.
- 2002 Georgia Tech celebrates 50 years of women in engineering.
- 2003 Chemical Engineering is renamed to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
- 2003 Textile and Fiber Engineering renamed to Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering.
- 2004 Georgia Tech is designated the number one producer of African-American engineers at the Bachelor's and Master's degree levels by Black Issues in Higher Education.
- 2006 Ground was broken on the Nanotechnolgy Research Center. Retired Home Depot executive Bernie Marcus contributed $15 million, which was matched by a State of Georgia grant.
- 2006 The National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health selected Georgia Tech and Emory University as one of seven national Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Centers of Excellence.
- 2006 Georgia Tech formed a dual degree program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
- 2006 Carolyn J. and H. Milton Stewart, Jr. IE 1961 committed $20 million to the School of ISyE to establish a permanent endowment for unrestricted use.
- 2006 All of the College of Engineering programs ranked by USNWR were listed in the top ten.
- 2007 Aerospace Engineering Chair Robert Loewy won the Daniel Guggenheim Medal, awarded jointly by AIAA and ASME.
- 2007 Russell DuPuis won the Edison Medal, top honor of IEEE.
- 2007 Health Systems Institute is formed and is the first center to report to directly to the dean of COE.
- 2008 The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering celebrated its tenth anniversary.
- 2009 The Center for Innovative Cardiovascular Technologies is the second center reporting directly to the dean of COE.
- 2010 College of Engineering Dean Don P. Giddens is elected to serve as president of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) for 2011-2012.
- 2010 Georgia Tech-Lorraine in Metz, France marks its twentieth anniversary.
