The 19th century, following the Habsburg compromise, saw unprecedented growth and development in Hungary. Progress was most pronounced in technology, mostly in the mechanical and electrical industry. Academic technical training in Hungary was carried out at The Hungarian Royal Palatine Josef University of Technical Sciences; however there was no Bachelor’s training in engineering. The growing demand for lower-level training called for the foundation of The Royal Hungarian Vocational School of Mechanics and Watch-making, the legal predecessor of the present college.
In 1901, the Ministry of Trade and Commerce had a school building erected at 15 Tavaszmező Street, Budapest. The two-storey eclectic building housed advanced teaching facilities, among which there was a 320-sqm workshop, seating 60.
The school year of 1920-1921 brought about a change in the name of the school: it was renamed The Royal Hungarian Vocational School of Mechanics and Electrical Engineering. In 1927-1928, as a result of a wide scope of reforms, a one-year upper-level course in electro-technology was added to the training profile. From the academic year 1933-1934, the course was extended to two years, thus, it became the direct legal predecessor of the present college. The 3+2 years’ training, unique in Hungary at that time, legally qualified as an upper-level vocational training.
The school year of 1941-1942 is the most important landmark in the history of the school, it is the year when the Secondary School for Electrical Engineering opened under the auspices of the School, and adopted Kálmán Kandó’s name. So it was named the Royal Hungarian Kandó Kálmán Secondary Technical School of Electrical Engineering. In 1945-1946, the school was renamed Kandó Kálmán Hungarian Secondary Technical School. From 1953 the school was called Kandó Kálmán Secondary Technical School for Telecommunications and Instrument Technology.
On March 4, 1969, following a long series of changes, the Presidential Council of Hungary declared that the Kandó Kálmán College of Electrical Engineering should be founded. The two faculties of the college resulted from the Secondary Technical School for Telecommunications and Instrument Technology. The building complex at 15-17 Tavaszmező street became the central location of the school. In 1979, the college structure was modernised and the former faculties and departments were organised into institutes, each representing an area of specialisation.
Further changes came in the 1990s. The training for production engineers carried out since 1978 was upgraded and a new postgraduate programme, offering evening-classes of 2-3 semesters, was launched.
In 2000, three colleges were integrated under the name Budapest Tech, and the Kandó Kálmán Faculty of Electrical Engineering became one of the five of its faculties.
Since January 2010 the Budapest Tech has been acting as Óbuda University