January, 1889
H.H. Clay, Chairman of the Committee on Territorial Affairs of the Idaho Territorial Legislature, recommends passage of the bill creating the University of Idaho at Moscow.

August, 1892
The first faculty member, John E. Ostrander, was appointed Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanic Arts.  With that appointment, Engineering Education in Idaho began.

1894
Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program became closely associated with Engineering.  Provisions were made in the Engineering curriculum to provide for military training and drill instruction by army officers.

May, 1896
The University of Idaho graduates its first class.  Of the four member graduating class, two were granted degrees in Civil Engineering.

November, 1896
Board of Regents formalizes the structure of the College of Engineering, but the Engineering program remains in the College of Applied Science until 1907.

June, 1901
The Mechanical Engineering Department was formed to educate in Mechanic Arts and Electrical Engineering.  Sidney Roby Sheldon was hired on December 3, 1902, as Professor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.

June, 1903
The first four-year curriculum in Electrical Engineering was offered.  Lorus A. Tweedt received the first BEE degree that same year.

1907
Degrees in Chemical Engineering were approved and authorized through a joint Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.  Dr. Carl von Ende served as the first Chairman of the Department from 1908 to 1934.

October 27, 1911
The Board of Regents formally created the College of Engineering, as we know it today.  Charles Newton Little was appointed the first Dean of the College of Engineering.

1914-1915
Electrical Engineering Department installs a wireless telegraph to use for the study of Radio Engineering.  In 1916, the U.S. War Department asks that the station be dismantled.  Later it was rebuilt and became station KFAN that at times could be heard all over the United States.  This was the beginning of campus radio station KUOI.

August, 1917
Mining and Metallurgy moves from the College of Engineering and Geology moves from the College of Letters and Science to form the new “School of Mines.”

September, 1917
John C. Wooley was the first faculty person hired with specific duties in regular course instruction in Agricultural Engineering.

1918
With encouragement from the Idaho Department of Highways, the Engineering Testing Laboratory was completed.

May 23, 1922
The first Engineering honorary society, Society of Sigma Tau, was organized at the University of Idaho as the Rho chapter, the fourteenth chapter in the United States of this national honorary society.  The first chapter was organized at the University of Nebraska in 1904.

1924
The first M.S. degree in the College of Engineering was granted in Mechanical Engineering to Phillip Alexander Robertson.

1924
The Engineers’ Show started with Engineering Departments and other disciplines presenting demonstrations of Engineering principles, of laboratory equipment, and of models of Engineering achievements.  It was considered a “…spectacular arrangement of mystifying electrical phenomena ever presented on the Idaho campus.”

May, 1924
The College of Engineering publishes the first issue of the Idaho Engineer.

October, 1924
The first Engineering Smoker was held in the old Armory with boxing matches, feats of physical prowess, and refreshments.  Contests with slide rules or “slip sticks” and professor roasts became common at these events until they ended in the early 1960’s.

1928
With encouragement from the State Department of Public Works, the Engineering Experiment Station was started.  In April, 1929 the Station published its first Engineering Experiment Station Bulletin, which became a channel for disseminating experimental results.

April 1, 1929
The Academic Council recommends a new curriculum to be administered jointly by the Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering that will lead to a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering.  It would be given to students in Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering followed by one year of prescribed work approved by the College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering.

April 3, 1929
As part of the graduate program, the Professional Degree is initiated in Engineering.  The first two Professional Degrees were conferred in June, 1930 to Civil Engineers, Isaac N. Carter and Carey Reign Black.

1938
Grace Fenton Robertson becomes the first woman graduate from the College of Engineering.  She earns a degree in Civil Engineering.  Following graduation, she takes a job with the Idaho Department of Highways where she becomes a supervisor.

1938
The Associated Engineers held the first Engineers’ Ball as a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

1941
Unit No. 1 of the Kirtley Engineering Laboratory is dedicated.  Dr. C.L. Kirtley, an Engineer, was one of the first four graduates of the University of Idaho in 1896.

1945
College of Engineering proposed two of the first 10 projects in the newly established University-wide Special Research Council.  Acting Dean of Engineering, L.C. Cady, became the real push behind this post-WWII program by traveling the State selling the legislature on the importance of the program.

September, 1946
College of Engineering Dean Jesse E. Buchanan becomes the tenth President of the University of Idaho.  He was the first President who was also an alumnus.

June 3, 1951
Unit No. 2 of the Kirtley Engineering Laboratory and Unit No. 1 of the Engineering Classroom Building are dedicated.  The Engineering Classroom Building was renamed the Janssen Engineering Building in honor of long-time Dean Allen S. Janssen.  It is also know as the J.E.B. building.

1954
The University enters into a joint education agreement between the Regents and the Atomic Energy Division of Phillips Petroleum Company (now, INEEL).  Its purpose is to meet needs to upgrade education of site personnel and to utilize the equipment and facilities at the site for the extension of Engineering education in the Idaho Falls area.

September, 1954
Dean Janssen creates the Department of Freshman Engineering to allow graduate assistants to administer the freshman courses common to all courses of Engineering Study.

1956
Under the aggressive leadership of Dr. Melbourne L. Jackson, the Chemical Engineering Department of the College of Engineering offers training towards a Ph.D. degree.

1957
Dean Janssen formed a special committee to examine the way the College was teaching basic courses.  The result was the designation of the “Engineering Science Section” of the College curriculum.  Each Department contributed a faculty position to teach the Engineering Science courses, which broadened the students’ Engineering fundamentals.

February 7, 1962
The University Curriculum Committee establishes a standing committee on Information Science that includes the topic of instruction in computers and computer science.

October, 1962
The Engineering Isotope Laboratory construction approved.

1963
UI asks the Board of Regents to establish a special Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI) to provide unified research efforts.  It was specifically organized as interdisciplinary and University-wide.  The first Chairman of the technical operating committee comes from the College of Engineering, Calvin C. Warnick.  IWRRI has helped the College accomplish a number of priorities including supporting hundreds of Engineering graduate students on project research.

1964
Chemical Engineering Chair Robert R. Furgason helped establish a career guidance and visitation program to Idaho high schools, a freshman scholarship program to bring talented young scholars to Chemical Engineering, and was instrumental in initiating a Women-in Engineering Program.  Furgason served as Dean from 1974 to 1977.

1967
President Hartung breaks ground for the Buchanan Engineering Laboratory building.

1967
As part of the effort to increase Engineering student recruitment, Professor Ron Byers initiates a summer program of the Idaho Chapter of the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).  Simultaneously, Chairman Furgason of Chemical Engineering helps develop an active chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

November, 1968
Dean H. Sidwell Smith organizes an Advisory Board to the College.  The Board develops goals for the College, helps upgrade faculty salaries, obtains modern equipment, and makes recommendations for improving the College’s programs.  The original Board members are a who’s-who from government, industry, and professional practice.  They are:  S. M. Barton, Albert Carlson, Harlow W. Smith, J. Kirk Sullivan, G. Bryce Bennett, Robert W. Vance, Frank W. Edwards, C. W. (Pat) Duffy, Leo W. Ruth, E. L. Mathes, H. T. Nelson, J. R. Simplot, and George M. Brunzell.  The Board also includes UI President E. W. Hartung and Vice President H. W. Steffens.  The College representatives are Dean Smith, Prof. Dwight S. Hoffman, Prof. Donald E. Rathbone, Prof. Robert L. Schuster, and Prof. Richard E. Warner.  Boeing Airplane Company executive, C. W. (Pat) Duffy is elected the Board’s first Chairman.

May 5, 1972
The Board of Regents approves establishment of an MS degree in Computer Science at INEEL in Idaho Falls.

June, 1973
The Board of Regents approves a proposal to offer an option of Computer Science in the BS degree program in Electrical Engineering on the Moscow campus.

1974
Dean Furgason helps initiate the Engineering Video Outreach Program, which is now known as the Engineering Outreach Program. 

1974
Sigma Tau honorary society merges with Tau Beta Pi Association, the present day National Engineering Honor Society.

1975
The Center for Applied Thermodynamic Studies (CATS) is established.  Its emphasis is to improve methods for obtaining accurate functional representations of the thermodynamic properties of fluids including liquids, gases, and mixtures used as working fluids in energy systems.  CATS research results are used in a variety of Engineering applications throughout the world.

1976
After obtaining a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the first real course work in the Engineering Outreach Program starts.  The video program opened the doors of industry to the University.

January 23, 1976
A program proposal to offer a BS degree in Computer Science was presented to the Engineering Curriculum Committee.  Final approval from the Regents came in July, 1977.  The first BSCS degrees were awarded in May, 1978.

1977
The Moscow campus MS program in Computer Science begins.

1978
Dean Furgason chosen by UI President Richard Gibb to become Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research where he develops the cooperative graduate engineering program at INEEL in Idaho Falls.

1978
CATS hosts the first International Workshop on Equations of State.  The second was held in West Germany in 1980, the third in London in 1982, and the fourth at UI in 1985.

Throughout the 1970’s
With Professor Paul Mann as the first advocate, the College introduces a significant program in upper division undergraduate and graduate engineering instruction in Boise.  To meet the growing need, the College initiates special courses in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, primarily through the Engineering Outreach Program.

1980
The College recommends that the General Engineering Department be disbanded and the new Computer Science Department be formed.  Final approval comes in the Summer of 1981.

1980
Margrit von Braun, daughter of famous German scientist Werner von Braun, develops a summer program for high school students called the Idaho Science Camp.  She becomes the program’s director.

October, 1982
Construction begins on the new Agricultural Engineering Laboratory and is completed one year later.

1985
Through the Electrical Engineering Department’s Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) founded by Professor Gary Maki, the first Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chip is completed demonstrating the College’s VLSI capability.  Prototype 5 Chip VLSI Processor is completed in 1987 and delivered to NASA.  The first major commercial contract for MRC was with Ampex in 1986.  In 1988 the MRC delivered two commercial process macrocells to HP in Boise.

December, 1986
The College of Engineering and its Advisory Board organizes a workshop in Boise to study the role of higher education in Idaho by considering both short and long term plans.  The workshop is designed to come up with objectives to guide the College.  More than 60 Engineering leaders from industry, business, education, and government meet to define goals in six major groups – computer science and computer engineering, civil and agricultural engineering, geological and mining engineering, chemical engineering and bio-engineering, mechanical and nuclear engineering, and electrical engineering.

The following goals and objectives for the UI College of Engineering were emphasized to help define the direction the college should move in its efforts to continue its spirit and performance of excellence as the University moves into its second century:    (Bold indicates goals that have affected the College of Engineering – Boise)

1. Continue to build on the strong education program that currently exists.
2. Increase career guidance efforts to attract the best-qualified students from Idaho into the various programs the College offers.
3. Expand, improve, and modernize instructional laboratories.
4. Use state-of-the-art education technology (e.g., computers, videotape, instructional television, interactive video, and teleconferencing) to supplement current instruction.
5. Focus and build on existing research strengths by supporting research in microelectronics, water resources, biotechnology, thermodynamics, and materials.
6. Increase the level of research in advanced processing techniques to support area industry, power generation and transmission, instrumentation and controls, hazardous waste management, and transportation systems.
7. Strengthen and expand cooperative research and graduate programs between the Colleges of Engineering at the University of Idaho and Washington State University, and with other educational units in the University and the State.
8. Continue and expand continuing education with Engineering Outreach in the State and cooperation with national organizations.
9. Establish off-campus undergraduate Engineering degree programs at the major population centers of the State.

December, 1987
The Board of Regents directs Boise State University and the University of Idaho to collaborate on a joint proposal to expand engineering courses in Boise.

1988
MRC applies to become a NASA Space Engineering Research Center.  It is designated one of nine National Engineering Research Centers for NASA, specializing in the design of high performance computers.

March & April, 1988
On March 24, UI President Richard D. Gibb and, on April 14, BSU President John H. Keiser sign a Memorandum of Understanding which causes several UI College of Engineering faculty to be stationed in Boise to provide more opportunities for students seeking engineering degrees.

1988
HP and Micron each donate $100,000 to fund the collaborative effort in Boise between UI and BSU.  The legislature provides permanent funding in 1989.

1989
MRC delivers VLSI chips to NASA for use in the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Station.  It also delivers chips to HP, Ampex, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.

1989
Manufacturing extension services begins in Idaho with the formation of the Technical and Industrial Extension Service (TIES) by the Idaho Small Business Development Center.  The program continues until 1996 as a one-person operation funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. 

1990
The first three students graduate from the new Boise Engineering program with degrees in Electrical Engineering.

1993
The Department of Mechanical Engineering hosts the first Design Fair on the Moscow campus to showcase the work of senior design projects.  The annual event becomes college-wide and renamed Design Expo.  It is the largest event of its kind west of the Mississippi River.

November, 1995
The State Board of Education directs BSU to develop its own undergraduate engineering degree program while leaving the UI with responsibility to offer a graduate engineering program in Boise.

August, 1996
UI Engineering program in Boise moves from BSU to its new location in the MK Plaza Building.  Dr. Larry Stauffer is named the Boise Engineering program director.

1996
TechHelp is established through federal funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  The NIST funding, secured by the Idaho Department of Commerce and the Idaho SBDC, establishes TechHelp as Idaho’s manufacturing extension center, affiliated with the nationwide Manufacturing Extension Partnership.  The NIST funding, renewable on a declining scale for six years, is contingent on local matching support.  TechHelp begins its first full year of operations in 1997 with an Advisory Board established and a director and three manufacturing specialists providing services to manufacturers. The center develops as a partnership of Boise State University, University of Idaho and Idaho State University, each providing substantial matching support.  In 1999, state funding is secured, providing TechHelp with a financial base of federal funding, state funding, and project revenue. The center expands its operations to four offices – two in North Idaho, three in Southwest Idaho, one in East Idaho, and one serving the food processing industry.

September 27, 2001
Dr. Peter Goodwin of the COE – Boise Ecohydraulics program is awarded the DeVlieg Presidential Professor in Ecohydraulics.  It is among the highest faculty honors at the University of Idaho.

March, 2002
The Idaho legislature passes House Concurrent Resolution 60 authorizing the State Building Authority to issue bonds to building the Idaho Water Center, future home to the UI College of Engineering in Boise.

2002
Unprecedented budget cuts in State spending creates permanent cuts on all University programs.  Under budgetary reorganization, the College of Mines is eliminated with some metallurgical Engineering programs moved to the College of Engineering in a new Department of Materials Science and Engineering. 

November, 2002
Construction on the building foundation begins at the site of the Idaho Water Center located on Broadway Avenue at Front Street in Boise. 

December 17, 2002
At a special meeting, the State Board of Education approves the issuance and selling of State bonds to finance the construction of the Idaho Water Center.  In addition to UI College of Engineering Boise programs, the building will house the Idaho Department of Water Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, and IWRRI.

December 18, 2002
The College of Engineering – Boise receives its first corporate gift to help fund Engineering programs at the Idaho Water Center.  Monsanto Corporation’s Soda Springs, Idaho plant provides the funds for equipment in the new Manufacturing Product Development Laboratory.

January 9, 2003
State bonds are sold to provide revenue to begin construction on the Idaho Water Center, home of UI College of Engineering programs in Boise.

October, 2004
UI College of Engineering programs in Boise moved from the MK Plaza building into the Idaho Water Center building.  Our new home location is 322 E. Front Street in Boise.