Early years (20th Century) ITS was founded as an humble technical college on November 10, 1957. In its early years, Angka Nitisastro, a medical doctor who became the first Rector of ITS, announced the student registration from his clinic. Following the suggestion of Indonesian Foreign Minister
Ruslan Abdulgani (1914–2005), the establishment charter of ITS was signed by
Sukarno (1901–1970), the first president of Republic of Indonesia. Both of them were born in Surabaya, which shared emotional connection with the city. In his speech, President Sukarno emphasized on the Spirit of Sepuluh Nopember, which refers to the legendary heroes who fought against colonialism and imperialism in the
Battle of Surabaya on November 10, 1945, and annually being commemorated as Heroes Day in Indonesia. Initially, the small
Sepuluh Nopember Technical College had only two departments, Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Three years later, ITS expanded by opening Electronic Engineering, Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding Engineering, and Chemical Engineering departments. In 1965, ITS developed two more faculties,
Architectural Engineering and the
Faculty of
Natural Sciences. In 1965, despite socio-political crises in Indonesia, ITS had established seven faculties: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding Engineering, and Faculty of Natural Science. In 1972, the campus of the Faculty of Civil Engineering was relocated to Jl. Manyar 8 Surabaya; the ITS campuses was separated. In the late of 1975, the Faculty of Architectural Engineering and Faculty of Natural Science were relocated to Jl. Cokroaminoto 12A, Surabaya. With financial aid from
ADB, ITS started to build a large educational complex in eastern Surabaya, 1977. In the early 1980s, reorganization took place in ITS, and the former faculties were downgraded into departments and merged into common discipline faculties. Hence the new ITS organization comprises four faculties: the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Planning, and the Faculty of Marine Technology. In 1988, ITS established its first polytechnic branch, Shipbuilding Polytechnic of Surabaya. This was followed by the second, Electronic Engineering Polytechnic of Surabaya.
Muhammad Nuh initiated Indonesia's first undergraduate program
Biomedical Engineering in 2007, which historically reconnect ITS to its early years when the newly born institute was led by a medical doctor, Angka Nitisastro. == Campuses ==