In Ilmenau, mechanical and precision engineering go back many years. It was as early as 1894 that the "Thüringisches Technikum" was founded. This changed its name in 1926 to The Ilmenau Engineers' School.
The disciplines were mechanical and electrical engineering.
From this college the Ilmenau "Hochschule für Elektrotechnik" grew in 1953, becoming in 1963 the Technische Hochschule Ilmenau (THI), which in 1992 was awarded University status.
The title of the Technische Universität in English is Ilmenau University of Technology.
In its earliest form, the faculty was founded in 1955 under the name of Precision Engineering and Optics.
Since 1990, the name has been Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The Faculty has become one of the largest in Ilmenau University of Technology.