UNAL School of Engineering | Fibog

A Brief Retrospective of the School of Engineering: 164 Years of Ingenuity

This is the story of a School: 164 years of words, formulas, and constant transformation. More than a century and a half has made the School of Engineering of the National University of Colombia the most prominent in the country. This is a brief retrospective overview of its history. This history draws upon the writings of two professors who embody the living memory of the School: Marcelo Enrique Riveros Rojas and Antonio Mejía.

As Professor Antonio Mejía notes, the history of the School of Engineering at the Bogotá Campus (FIUNB) can be divided into two periods: the first, focused exclusively on civil engineering for a century; and the second, marked by the creation of new undergraduate programs and the expansion into graduate studies.

First Period

The School of Engineering was founded by presidential decree on August 24, 1861, during the presidency of Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, although it began operations in 1866 with 63 students. Its first director was Lorenzo María Lleras, later succeeded by Colonel Santiago Fraser. Classes were held at the La Candelaria convent and included courses in drawing, drafting, cartography, military design, and geometry, along with fieldwork, military exercises, and sports activities. By January 1867, enrollment reached 130 students. Among its first professors were Indalecio Liévano Reyes and Juan Nepomuceno González.

The founding date of the School of Engineering has long been a matter of debate. Some place it in 1867, with the creation of the National University, arguing that a professional academic level did not exist prior to that year. Others trace it back to the Military College founded by Mosquera (1848–1854), whose graduates later became instructors at the School of Engineering. In 1961, the discussion was settled, and 1861 was officially adopted as the founding year. After Mosquera’s fall in 1867, the Military College entered a period of crisis and was incorporated into the newly established National University as one of its six schools. Beginning in 1868, students were required to hold a high school diploma, thereby raising the academic standards of admission.

In its early years, the School of Engineering suffered instability due to internal conflicts and civil wars. Although student enrollment grew between 1868 and 1875, the civil war of 1876 interrupted classes until 1878. The School lacked adequate infrastructure, and tensions arose over its purpose, whether to educate civil engineers or military officers. In 1871, its own graduates, such as Abelardo Ramos and Ruperto Ferreira, began teaching. However, Colombian engineers faced employment difficulties, as most public works contracts were awarded to the North American Engineering Corporation led by Francisco Cisneros between 1874 and 1894.

Between 1880 and 1910, the School of Engineering went through a period of political and institutional instability marked by three civil wars and frequent relocations. Nevertheless, in 1892 it was consolidated as the School of Mathematics and Engineering (FMI), establishing the curriculum that remained in effect until 1961 and elevating the engineer’s status as a key figure in national development.

The School also strengthened its intellectual presence through publications in the Annals of Engineering (Anales de Ingeniería) and through the founding of the Colombian Society of Engineers in 1887. Its graduates played leading roles in the Ministry of Public Works, the National Railways, the mapping of the country, and private enterprises, thus laying the foundations of modern Colombian engineering.

Between 1910 and 1961, the School of Engineering of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, then known as the School of Mathematics and Engineering (FMI), played a highly significant role in the country’s development. Once the difficult situation of its graduates had been overcome, both professors and students obtained increasing prestige. With the transition from the Conservative Republic to the Liberal Republic in the 1930s, education in general, and the National University in particular, came to occupy a place of growing relevance.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the School strengthened its position after overcoming internal debates and consolidating its academic standing. Later, the political reaction against President López Pumarejo’s reforms led to the creation of competing institutions; however, the physical and infrastructural consolidation of the School and the National University provided a strong foundation to face these challenges.

Among the new campus buildings designated for the School, the first to be completed was the Materials Testing Laboratorytoday the Institute for Extension and Research (IEI), inaugurated onJuly 28, 1942. This facility fulfilled the Faculty’s direct commitments to the State and the Ministry of Public Works by conducting technical testing services.

The construction of the School’s main building (Building 401) began around 1941 and was completed in 1944. Subsequently, another of its emblematic spaces was built: the Hydraulics Laboratory, which began operating in March 1949and was officially inaugurated in August 1952..

Second Period

In 1961, during the School’s centennial celebration, Dean Hernando Correal promoted the creation of specializations in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, breaking away from the traditional single-track educational model. Correal, a civil engineer who graduated in 1945 and had served as a full-time academic since 1951, led a decisive academic renewal during his tenure (1959–1964). The centennial celebration, attended by President Alberto Lleras Camargo, became a significant social event, reflecting the close relationship between the State, the engineering profession, and the social prestige it conferred at the time.

The New Engineering Disciplines

In the 1960s, following the Patiño Reform, the School adopted the name “School of Engineering.” In 1965, the Department of Chemical Engineering was established, staffed by professors from the former School of Chemistry. In 1969, the Agricultural Engineering program was created as a joint initiative with the School of Agronomy, later becoming part of the School of Engineering.

The establishment of Electrical Engineering was strengthened by the arrival of Martín Lutz, a German engineer with extensive experience in Colombia, who became its first director and also collaborated with Mechanical Engineering. Invited by Dean Correal in 1959, after a career devoted to electrical and industrial projects, Lutz brought expertise and maturity that helped consolidate these emerging programs.

The Mechanical Engineering program began under the direction of Diego López Arango, who, after training in the United States, quickly rose to the positions of dean and later rector, leaving the program with limited development. Foreign professors such as Alan Buckle, Dieter Brezing, and the Spaniard José Luis Abia temporarily strengthened the program, the latter making a significant contribution to technical drawing instruction.

 Chemical Engineering, approved in 1939 but consolidated in 1948, became part of the School of Engineering in 1965 following the Patiño Reform. Professor Zbigniew M. Broniewski, a key figure since 1950, served as its first director and promoted a strong academic identity and a sense of community among faculty and students.

Agricultural Engineering was created in 1969 as a joint program between the Faculties of Agronomy and Engineering, initially led by Marco Tulio Arellano. A crisis in Agronomy, following the dismissal of its administrators and professors in 1973, led to the program’s definitive transfer to the Faculty of Engineering.

In 1967, the First Colombian Congress on Electronic Computation was organized by engineers Ernesto Obregón and Jorge Estrada, with support from the National University and the Ministry of Public Works. This event introduced the country to emerging technological concepts and paved the way for the creation of the Graduate Program in Systems Engineering.

The first attempt to establish Industrial Engineering at the Bogotá Campus took place in the 1930s but was later suspended. In the 1990s, professors Fernando Guzmán and Hugo Herrera revived the initiative from the Department of Chemical Engineering, supported by several research groups and faculty members. Thanks to the program’s prior existence at the Manizales Campus and an academic agreement signed in 2000, the program was officially transferred to Bogotá and formally established within the FIUNB.

Mechatronics Engineering at the National University was developed thanks to Professor Ernesto Córdoba Nieto, who, beginning in 1982, promoted research, publications, and the creation of a specialized laboratory. In 1997, he submitted the formal proposal to establish the undergraduate program, advocating for its inclusion at the bachelor’s level despite initial suggestions to offer it solely as a graduate program. After rigorous academic, market, and social analyses, with the support of several schools, the program was approved by the Academic Council in August 2001.

Women with Ingenuity

Guillermina Uribe Bone was the first woman engineer to graduate from the National University of Colombia, Bogotá Campus. Since then, many women have forged paths and excelled in diverse fields of engineering. The first female dean was Beatriz Durán (1990–1994), followed by María Alejandra Guzmán Pardo (2018–2024) and, for the 2024–2026 term, Sonia Esperanza Monroy.

Women engineers have not only held administrative positions but have also been recognized with the Ponce de León Award, granted by the Colombian Society of Engineers, the highest distinction for ingenuity at UNAL. Among the awardees are Cindy Johana Rodríguez Ávila, an industrial engineer and 2013 winner, and María Mónica Castellanos, a chemical engineer honored in 2011.

The Walls that Build a Faculty

During the 1980s, the Faculty faced the need to expand its facilities as part of the 1984 University Restructuring. Without the possibility of constructing new buildings, existing spaces were redistributed, for instance, to create the Electronic Engineering program. The true expansion came during the deanship of Diego Hernández (2006–2012), with the donation of the Science and Technology Building (2008) and the CADE Building by the Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Organization.