The institution started its career in 1921 as the ‘ Mughalpura Technical College ’. Later it became the ‘Maclagan Engineering College’, a name given to it in 1923 when Sir Edwards Maclagan, the then Governor of the Punjab who laid the foundation stone of the main building, now called the Main Block, which still retains its majesty despite the wear and tear of over eight decades. At that stage the institution offered courses of study in only two disciplines; Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.