The Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences was founded in 1959 as the Higher Technical School of Metallurgy, which in 1961 grew into the Faculty of Metallurgy, University of Sarajevo. The first task of the Faculty of Metallurgy was the education of metallurgical engineers for the needs of the Zenica Ironworks, which was built way back in 1892.
The department for casting at the Faculty was introduced in 1964, and in 1969, the Department for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy. These courses grow into departments. is being introduced. With the introduction of the Department of Metal Materials, the Faculty became more attractive and opened up the possibility of training engineering personnel who found their place in many industrial branches.
During the war, the Faculty, although under very difficult conditions, worked without interruption. Immediately after the end of the war, an initiative was launched to transform the Faculty, which would regain its attractiveness and meet the needs for professional staff in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the best possible way. The transformation was completed in the academic year 1998/99 with the introduction of the Non-Metallic Materials department, the Faculty officially changed its name to the Faculty of Metallurgy and Materials.
Namely, our Faculty was and still is the only Faculty in Bosnia and Herzegovina where metal materials were studied, both as regards their obtaining and processing as well as their design. However, the growing demand for non-metallic materials both in the world and in our country, as well as the fact that there are rich deposits of non-metallic and mineral raw materials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have created the need for the study of these materials as well as the training of personnel for this industry. With the introduction of the Department of Non-Metallic Materials, the study of materials at our Faculty has been completed. From the academic year 2006/2007, the Department of Chemistry was introduced at the Faculty with a major in chemical engineering.
From the academic year 2017/2018 the Faculty changed its name to the Faculty of Metallurgy and Technology, which was preceded by a detailed analysis of the work and revision of the curricula of all study programs. Following the development trends of similar faculties from the surrounding area (faculties that educate personnel of similar or the same profiles), it is noticeable that their names are either technological-metallurgical, or metallurgical-technological with further division into study programs.
In 2018, the Scientific and Teaching Council of the Faculty sent the University Senate an initiative to start two new study programs in the first cycle; Environmental Engineering and Work Safety and Fire Protection. In academic year 2021/22 the first students were enrolled in these two new departments.
Due to the introduction of new departments and the possibility of expanding the Faculty’s home base, as well as strengthening the technological (technical) component at the University of Zenica and better positioning of technological/technical and natural sciences, i.e. scientific disciplines in the context of social needs and the development of both the economy and scientific thought in the home areas, faculty in academic year 2023/24. enters under the new name Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences.
A total of 1,350 students have graduated from the Faculty since its establishment. Seventy candidates obtained the scientific degree of Master and 46 candidates obtained the scientific degree of Doctor of Science.
