Funds for its establishment was donated by philanthropist Dr. Alagappa Chettiar to Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, Vice Chancellor of Madras University in 1943.
In the early days of the college research was carried out in the conventional areas of chemical engineering like absorption, adsorption, liquid-liquid extraction, and fluid dynamics.
It features paper presentation sessions, lectures, video conferences and technical quizzes.
The department houses a library with a variety of books on standard engineering subjects, textile technology, fabric science, pattern making, garment industries, textile merchandising and marketing, knitting, sewing, fashion illustration, and other topics, which are available to be borrowed during the weekends.
The center has a building of about 1000 square metres sponsored by Southern Petrochemicals Corporation Limited at Taramani Campus with facilities for carrying out research in areas such as biotechnology, bioprocess technology, molecular biology, cell biology, and immunology.
A B.Tech Programme in Ceramic Technology was started in 1996 with financial support of Rs.25 lakhs from M/s Carborundum Universal Ltd., Chennai.
The centre has been actively pursuing research in various aspects of nanoscience and technology including chemical, mechanical and biosynthesis of nanomaterials like semiconductor nanostructures, nanocrystalline thin films, carbon nanotubes and nanofibres, metallic nanoadhesives, polymer based nanocomposites and nanostructured ferroic materials.