The Evolution of the School of Industrial Technology

Beginning the 1986/1987 academic year, the School of Engineering Sciences and Industrial Technology were operated independently. The School of Industrial Technology remained in the main campus on the island of Pulau Pinang. Simultaneously, the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering were relocated to Perak Branch Campus. Owing to the encouraging sectional growth, the Polymer Technology Programme and Quality Control & Instrumentation Programme were moved to the USM Engineering Campus in Sri Ampangan, Nibong Tebal in the 2001/2002 academic year. The Polymer Technology Programme was changed to the Polymer Engineering Programme and was located under the School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering. The Quality Control & Instrumentation Programme was renamed the Mechatronic Engineering Programme and placed under the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The Environmental Technology Programme was later introduced in the 1999/2000 academic session as a new section in the School of Industrial Technology.

During the 2003/2004 academic session, the Wood, Paper and Coatings Technology Programme changed its name to the Bioresource, Paper and Coatings (BPC) Technology Programme. In about the same session, the Bioprocess Technology Programme emerged as the latest addition to the school's existing three programmes beginning from the 2008/2009 academic session.

In 2015, the Food Technology programme managed to obtain approval as an accredited undergraduate food science programme by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). This is the first undergraduate programme in Malaysia to obtain this accreditation. The programme managed to renew its IFT accreditation in 2020. This renewal will last until 2025.

In September 2018 and the academic session 2018/2019, class started for our first Master of Science in Environmental Science by coursework programme.

In 2020, the Bioresource, Paper and Coatings Technology programme was renamed to the Bioresource Technology programme. In 2022, the Bioprocess Technology programme was changed to the Bioprocess Engineering Technology programme. This programme is provisionally accredited by the Board of Engineer Malaysia (BEM). The first intake for this programme starts in the academic session 2022/2023.