The history of the Faculty of Engineering is the longest among all the institutes that were merged to form Ibrahim Pasha University. Its origins date back more than a century, beginning with the inclusion of the Higher Institute of Engineering in the newly established university. In 1839, the School of Operations was founded in Bulaq to train practical engineers and craftsmen who would manage factories supplying the army with ammunition. This school operated until it was closed in 1854. In 1868, it was reopened and expanded to include three additional departments: telegraphy, handicrafts and drawing, and physical education. Its curriculum was later revised to resemble that of the Institute of Arts and Industries in the city of Aix, France.

In 1877, its name was changed to "School of Industries and Processes", then it was known as the School of Arts and Crafts in 1885. Its activity increased until it extended outside the country, so it participated in several international exhibitions such as the Berlin Exhibition of 1896. The school continued to develop until a new regulation was issued for it, and it had three departments: Mechanics and Electricity, Decorative Arts and Industries and Buildings and Organization. The curricula were equivalent to those of its counterparts in France until 1910.

In 1919, the Department of Decorative Arts and Industries separated from it and was known as "Applied Arts", and the study in the latter school was limited to the departments of Mechanics and Electricity and Buildings and Organization. Then it became the School of Arts and Industries in 1932, then later the School of Applied Engineering. It continued to carry out its mission until 1946, when a ministerial decree was issued giving the school the name of the Higher Institute of Engineering.

When Law No. 93 was issued in 1950 to establish Ibrahim Pasha University, the Higher Institute of Engineering became the nucleus of the Faculty of Engineering, to become, after the completion of the infrastructure and facilities, one of the faculties included in the university.

The Faculty of Engineering has witnessed many developments over the decades since its affiliation with Ain Shams University, whether at the level of the number of departments and different sections or at the level of the teaching system, as the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, is currently implementing the curriculum system based on the credit hour system and expanding international partnerships to grant double degrees.

The same applies to postgraduate studies, as the faculty has developed a parallel research plan, part of which is of an interdisciplinary nature, containing academic research that gives a distinctive character to the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, in addition to applied research that serves society and industry and contributes to solving environmental problems.