UCLA Engineering: Sixty Years of Engineering Excellence

1941 - The UC Regents authorize instruction in engineering on the Los Angeles campus	1940s	1943 - Assembly Bill 1140 passes authorizing instruction in engineering
1945 - The College of Engineering opens under the leadership of Llewellyn M.K. Boelter with an enrollment of 379		1946 - Enrollment in the College triples
1948 - Barbara Wynn is the first woman to graduate from the College of Engineering		1949 - Ground is broken for construction of Engineering I

1952 - The first studies at UCLA in air pollution are conducted	1950s	1955 - The Engineering Executive Program begins, offering engineering graduates the chance to develop their management and leadership skills
1957 - Construction begins on Engineering II (later renamed Boelter Hall) 1959 - Researchers conduct early studies in fuel injection as a means of reducing smog	1950s	1958 – The first PhD specializing in astronautics graduates from UCLA

1960 - UCLA scientists demonstrate the first successful use of a reverse osmosis membrane for sea water reclamation	1960s	1962 - The nuclear reactor training program at UCLA begins
1963 - The unified undergraduate engineering program at UCLA established by Dean Boelter is fully accredited by the Engineers Council for Professional Development		1965 - Computer scientists explore digital-analog hybrid computers
1965 - Founding Dean L.M.K. Boelter retires		1965 - The first UCLA Engineering Alumnus of the Year award is presented to Trude C. Taylor BS '49
1969 - The College of Engineering becomes the School of Engineering and Applied Science, with seven distinct departments		1969 - The first node of what is to become the Internet is installed at UCLA, and the first message sent a month later

1972 - A hydrogen car developed by UCLA engineering students wins the Urban Vehicle Design Competition	1970s	1975 - The School begins offering a midpoint graduate degree option, the degree of Engineer

1980 - The Crump Institute for Medical Engineering is established to support collaborations between engineering and medicine	1980s	1983 - The Minority Engineering Education Center opens
1984 - The engineering undergraduate curricula and degree offerings are restructured with an emphasis on departmental programs	1980s	1985 - The SEASnet computer network is established through a grant from IBM

1990 - Engineering IV is dedicated	1990s	1998 - A graduate Interdepartmental Degree Program in Biomedical Engineering is established in the School of Engineering
1999 - Dr. Henry Samueli, alumnus and engineering professor, and his wife Susan pledge $30 million to UCLA Engineering	1990s

2000 - The School is dedicated as the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science	2000s	2002 - Three major externally-funded research centers are established in the School: the NSF Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, the NASA Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration, and the DARPA Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense
2003 - Two additional competitive research centers are established in the School: the MARCO Functional Engineered Nano Architectonics Focus Center and the NSF Center for Scalable and Integrated Nanomanufacturing		2004 - Construction of a new engineering facility begins
2004 - The Department of Bioengineering welcomes its first freshman class		2005 - The 60th anniversary of UCLA Engineering

60th Anniversary | A Brief History