The Faculty of Engineering was established in 1983, but welcomed its first set of students a year later, to study in the three foundation departments of Civil and Water Resources Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. With the transfer of the Department of Agricultural Engineering from the Faculty of Agriculture and the establishment of Chemical Engineering and Computer Engineering, the Faculty of Engineering currently has six Departments.

Engineering in Maiduguri is driven more by ecological imperatives than statutory requirements. Given the correlates of a region that is semi-arid and in need of sustainable industrial presence, Engineering at the University is intimately linked to the search for solutions and alternatives in such areas as food, shelter, energy, raw materials and private entrepreneurship.

A number of these areas are already being catered for by the five Departments that exist at the moment, while an additional level of needs will be catered for by Departments and Centres envisaged in the Faculty Masterplan. These include: Mining Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Transportation Engineering and Management.

The Faculty runs the following courses, accredited by both the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria and the National Universities Commission.

Bachelor of Agricultural Engineering

• M.Sc Agricultural Engineering with specialization in:
• Soil and Water Engineering
• Farm power and Machinery
• Processing and Storage Engineering

Ph.D Agricultural Engineering with specialization in:

• Soil and Water Engineering
• Farm power and Machinery
• Bachelor of Chemical Engineering
• Bachelor of Civil and Water Resources Engineering
  
  Bachelor of Computer Engineering
• Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering