The university is one of the most dynamically developing educational institutions in Russia. Established on December, 30th 1959, it was initially named Penza Plant-Technical College, branch of Penza Polytechnic Institute.The mission of plant-technical colleges was target training of engineers for cutting edge fields of the then economy in the shortest possible time. Theoretical education of students was accompanied by practical work at plants and factories. In the following decades the university experienced some transformations before achieving its current status and structure. Seeking to provide the regional economy with highly qualified engineers, we coordinated our advance with the demands of developing manufacture. Having started with training computer science and electronics engineers, we gradually supplemented the array of majors with machine-building, automation, ecology, medical and biotechnology, management, food engineering and engineering pedagogy.