BRIEF HISTORY

The Faculty of Technology has two campuses, each with different historical background of its own. The Northern Campus grew out of the former Imperial College of Engineering while the Southern Campus started as the Ethio-Swedish Institute of Building Technology.

The Imperial College of Engineering was opened in 1953. Initially, it offered only a two-year intermediate engineering program which required the students to be sent abroad for completion of the B.Sc. Degree program. Later, a four-year degree programme in Civil Engineering and Industrial Engineering was launched, and the first batch of students graduated in July 1958. In the following year, the Industrial Engineering programme was split into independent Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering programmes, and the duration of the study programmes was extended to five years. In 1961, the College became a chartered member of the then Haile Selassie I University, which is now the Addis Ababa University. The College of Engineering expanded further in 1963 by opening the Department of Architecture and Urban planning. In 1965, the College moved from its former location in the compound of the Technical School at Mexico Square in 1969 to Arat Kilo Campus (the current Faculty of Science). The College finally moved to its present location, which was built with financial assistance from the former Federal Republic of Germany.

The former Building College, formally known as the Ethio-Swedish Institute of Building College, was founded in 1954 through a bilateral agreement between the Ethiopian and Swedish Governments. The initial educational scheme, launched in 1955, aimed at offering a three-year diploma programme in Building Engineering. At the end of the 1957/58 academic year, the training was upgraded to a four-year programme leading to a B.Sc. Degree in Building Engineering but was reviewed again and changed to a three-year diploma program in 1962. As a result of recommendations made at various times, especially those of the study team in 1968 and the Presidential Commission in 1968, and the report of the Technical Survey Team of 1969, the College of Engineering and the Building College merged to form the present Faculty of Technology in 1969.

The Northern Campus contains four departments: Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. The Southern Campus contains three teaching  departments: Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, Construction Technology and Management, and a non-teaching department: Materials Research and Testing.

A further milestone in the expansion and strengthening of engineering education in the country was the opening by the Faculty of two M.Sc. Programmes, first in 1979 in Civil Engineering and then in 1985 in Electrical Engineering. At present the faculty offers over 20 MSc programs and about 5 Ph.D. programs as of the 2008/09 academic year.

FACILITIES

The Northern Campus of the Faculty of Technology is located on the main road between the main campus of Addis Ababa University and the Science Faculty in Addis Ababa. It has facilities for about 1000 regular students. In addition to lecture halls, classrooms, laboratories and workshops, the facilities at this Campus include an administrative wing consisting of the Dean’s Office with its auxiliary services, a bookstore, students dormitory and a dining hall, and a library having over 25000 volumes of books and more than 45 subscribed scientific journals. The Faculty computer center is also located in the Northern Campus. It contains a number of personal computers operating in a network with several terminals and associated peripherals. Besides, each department has its own mini computer center. The Faculty enjoys 24 hours access to Internet through the University wide area network.

The Southern Campus, together with the Institute of Pathobiology, occupies a site in the southwest of Addis Ababa, on the Jimma Road. The campus incorporates classrooms, laboratories, workshops, architectural studios, living quarters for staff and students. There is also a group of five traditional Ethiopian house to illustrate the vernacular architecture. The library in the Southern Campus contains approximately 12000 books, pamphlets and periodicals.

Residence halls at both campuses provide accommodation for students, laundry facilities and rooms for indoor games and other recreational facilities. There are also facilities for several outdoor sports.