It is Mexico's most productive research center for diverse branches of engineering.
The institute has focused on disseminating the result of its research projects to contribute to the national development and the well-being of society.
January 1956 - January 1959 Fernando Hiriart Balderrama February 1959 - July 1966 Emilio Rosenblueth Deutsch August 1966 - June 1970 Roger Díaz de Cossío June 1970 - June 1974 Daniel Ruiz Fernández June 1974 - September 1982 Daniel Resendiz Nuñez September 1982 - February 1991 Luis Esteva Maraboto February 1991 - April 1991 Roberto Magallanes Negrete (Interino) April 1991 - May 1999 José Luis Fernández Zayas May 1999 - April 2003 Francisco José Sánchez Sesms May 2003 - October 2007 Sergio Manuel Alcocer Martínez de Castro November 2007 - February 2008 José Alberto Escobar Sánchez (Interino) February 2008 - Adalberto Noyola Robles The staff comprises 93 researchers, 95 academic technicians, 409 scholarship holders at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels and 184 clerical workers.
The institute is located in Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City, inside the Faculty of Engineering area.
Its facilities include 13 buildings on the UNAM campus, in Mexico City, occupying 20,000 square metres (220,000 sq ft) in laboratories, cubicles and common areas, along with an auditorium.