50 Years of the Faculty of Civil Engineering (1977–2027)

History of the Faculty

Technical University of Košice

The origins of technical higher education in Košice date back to 1937, when the Dr. Milan Rastislav Štefánik Technical University in Košice was established by Act No. 170 of the Czechoslovak Republic. Classes were supposed to begin as early as the 1938/1939 academic year, but prewar events following the Vienna Arbitration forced the university to relocate first to Prešov, then to Martin, until it finally settled in Bratislava and laid the foundation for today’s Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava.

The Technical University in Košice was officially established by Government Decree No. 30/1952 Coll. of July 8, 1952, which established the university with three faculties: the Faculty of Heavy Mechanical Engineering (currently the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), the Faculty of Mining (Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Management, and Geotechnologies), spun off from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava; and the Faculty of Metallurgy. In 1969, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) was added, and in 1976, the Faculty of Civil Engineering.

A significant event in the history of the Technical College was its renaming as the Technical University of Košice pursuant to a law of the Slovak National Council dated February 13, 1991. In 1992, the Faculty of Applied Studies was established in Prešov, which was transformed in 1996 into today’s Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies. The Faculty of Economics was also established in 1992, marking the university’s move beyond purely technical disciplines; this trend continued in 1998 with the founding of the Faculty of Applied Arts (Faculty of Arts). The Faculty of Aviation at the Technical University of Košice was established on February 1, 2005, and is the successor organization to the General Milan Rastislav Štefánik Military Aviation Academy in Košice.

Faculty of Civil Engineering – Origins

The idea of establishing a Faculty of Civil Engineering and Surveying at the Technical University in Košice was first proposed as early as the 1961/1962 academic year by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and, based on its directives, a breakdown of target figures was also drawn up. This plan was not carried out because there was no convincing data available on the need for civil engineers in Eastern Slovakia.

In 1970, the administration of the Technical University revisited this issue. It undertook a survey to assess the need for civil engineers. The survey was conducted through personal meetings with the management of major construction organizations and written inquiries to the District National Committees in Eastern Slovakia and approximately 40 percent of Central Slovakia, with the aim of identifying the portion of construction capacity directly managed by the national committees. Both the construction organizations and the District National Committees submitted compelling written evidence regarding the necessity of establishing a Faculty of Civil Engineering in eastern Slovakia. The establishment of the faculty was motivated by the urgent need for qualified, university-educated construction specialists, whom the rapid development of the construction industry urgently required, particularly in the Eastern and Central Slovak regions.

Based on this data and a detailed analysis aimed at confirming the societal need for this faculty, the Government of the Slovak Republic, by its decree, established the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Technical University in Košice in 1977 as its newest component. Thus, by Decree No. 14 of the Government of the Slovak Socialist Republic dated December 1, 1976, the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Technical University in Košice was established, effective February 20, 1977.

The grand opening took place on February 22, 1977, in the Aula Maxima in the presence of Dr. M. Lučan, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and Deputy Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR); Doc. I. Litvaj, CSc., Head of the Department of Education and Science of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS); the Minister of Education of the Slovak Socialist Republic, Prof. Ing. J. Buša, CSc., representatives of the Eastern Slovak Region, as well as academic officials from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava.

The first leadership of the Faculty of Civil Engineering began its work with the following members:

The Dean’s Office began its operations on the 4th floor of Block A of the main building of the Technical University in Košice.

Following the establishment of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the inaugural meeting of the KSS branch was held on April 4, 1977, and the inaugural meeting of the ROH branch followed shortly thereafter. On March 31, 1977, the inaugural faculty conference of the SZM took place. The first meeting of the Dean’s Council of the Faculty of Civil Engineering took place on April 14, 1977, during which a resolution was adopted to draft a plan of the faculty’s main tasks for the 1976–1977 academic year, and the composition of the various committees, auxiliary bodies, and administrative officers at the Faculty of Civil Engineering was approved.

At that April meeting of the Dean’s Council of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the schedule of its meetings were also approved. The inaugural meeting of the first Scientific Council of the Faculty of Civil Engineering took place in September 1977.