In the academic year 1987/88, the Department of Civil Engineering was established in the Institute of Mechanical Engineering under the leadership of Dr. László Vágó, professor of the then Ybl Miklós Technical College in Budapest, operating as the Debrecen Unit of the College. Dr. László Vágó was succeeded by István Ludvig, who had an excellent background as a designer and teacher, and who carried out his duties with thorough professional knowledge and enormous work ethic. These years were years of in-depth professional work, the results of which could be safely relied upon. During a short transitional period, Dr. Róbert Horváth and Dr. Imre Majoros served as Heads of Department. In 1994, Dr. Györgyné Dr. Homonnay took over the leadership of the Department. With her high level professional and scientific work for 6 years, she gained national recognition for the Department of Civil Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering. She has used her national and international contacts for the professional development of education, the Department and her colleagues.
From July 2000, Dr Györgyné Halász took over the leadership of the Department and worked in this capacity for 10 years. In her work she followed her predecessors, maintaining and developing the traditions they had established, cultivating industrial relations, and constantly working to improve the quality of education. In 2010, the Department was renamed the Department of Civil and Plant Engineering. From August 2010, Dr. Ferenc Kalmár, Professor, took over the leadership of the Department. The period under his leadership was characterized by the expansion of international relations, the cultivation of international and domestic projects, the establishment of state-of-the-art laboratories, the organization of international conferences and scientific meetings.
During the major reconstruction of the Faculty's building in 2013, new laboratories and new measuring circuits replaced the old ones, and several new instruments were purchased, the financial resources for which were provided by successful tenders requiring a lot of preparatory work.
In 2013, the “Sustainable Building Energy Information Centre” was inaugurated, which is a building with “near-zero energy demand” and provides the opportunity to demonstrate systems integrating renewable energy sources.
An important step for the training of building services engineers was the launch of the MSc in Building Services Engineering in autumn 2008 on a full-time basis, in response to the changing expectations of the profession.
The aim of the new degree was to train engineers who understand all the phases of the construction and physical life of a facility, including installation, commissioning, maintenance, operation and refurbishment. It is also required that they have a broad knowledge of the building systems, their individual components and are able to treat the installation as an extensive, integrated system.
The Department works with several professional companies. These companies support the teaching through lectures, thesis publications, thesis prizes, products and training support. Thanks to this extensive network of contacts, it is possible to organise the “Building Engineering Professional Days”, an annual event which is so important in the life of the Department.