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Linking Young Minds Together
     Volume 2 Issue 31 | August 12 , 2007|


  
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Spotlight

From survey school to a seat of premier technical education

Kamrul Hasan Khan

It was the year 1876 that the nucleus of the Buet was first formed with the establishment of a survey school named Dacca Survey School at a rented building at Nolgola [west of Salimullah Medical College] in the old part of Dhaka. The school, established by the then Government of Bengal of British India, initiated a survey course of two years duration with a view to producing men qualified to work as land surveyors.

The Survey School became Ahsanullah School of Engineering offering three-year diploma courses in Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. In recognition of the generous financial contributions from the then Nawab Khwaja Salimullah, it was named after his father Khawja Ahsanullah.

It moved to its present premises in 1912. In 1947, the School was upgraded to Ahsanullah Engineering College as a Faculty of Engineering under the Dhaka University, offering four-year bachelor's courses in Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. In 1948 the Government of East Pakistan gave recognition to the engineering college.

Hakim Ali was appointed the first Principal of the college. The then Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Mahmood Hasan was the first Vice-Chancellor.

In 1951 TH Mathewman was appointed principal and was succeeded in 1954 by MA Rashid. In 1956 a new course-curricula and the semester system were introduced at the Ahsanullah Engineering College. In 1957 the enrolment capacity for the bachelor's degree was increased from 120 to 240 and the diploma course was withdrawn from 1958.

In order to create facilities for postgraduate studies and research, the Ahsanullah Engineering College was upgraded and the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology established on 1st June 1962.

MA Rashid was appointed the first Vice Chancellor. After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, it was renamed as the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

In the sessions 1962-1963, there enrolled 1022 students; three of them were female in two faculties and 10 departments. There were 89 teachers. At present the campus occupies 76.85 acres of land. The academic area is confined in and around the old campus occupying 30.24 acres of land.

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