In 1955,
Ford Foundation established Sylhet Polytechnic Institute along with four other similar institutes at
Dhaka,
Rangpur,
Bogra,
Pabna and
Barisal. At the beginning, SPI offered 3 years long courses, based on the syllabus of
Oklahoma State University. The certificate issued by the then Technical Education Board was
Associated in Engineering having provision to undergo Bachelor of Science courses in
United States. Its formation and academic course history goes back to the birth of Ahsanullah Engineering College, which is now known as
BUET. The campus of SPI was designed by
Muzharul Islam and
Stanley Tigerman. ==Campus==