With the predecessor founded in 1953 as the People's Liberation Army Military Academy of Engineering (中国人民解放军军事工程学院) in Harbin, the institution was officially established in 1978 in Changsha, Hunan.

[7] On July 11, Chairman Mao Zedong appointed Grand General Chen Geng as the first dean and president.

The preparatory committee composed of Grand General Chen Geng as Committee Chairman, Xu Lixing as Vice Chairman, Li Maozhi, Zhang Yan, Huang Jingwen, Hu Xiangjiu, Zhang Shuzu, Ren Xinmin, Shen Zhenggong, and Zhao Zili.

On September 16, 1952, the CMC General Political Department approved the establishment of the Provisional Communist Party Committee within the Preparatory Committee with Grand General Chen Geng as the interim party secretary and consisting of Xu Lixing, Li Maozhi, Zhang Yan, Hu Xiangjiu, and Huang Jingwen.

On June 3, 1952, CCP Premier Zhou Enlai wrote to the Vice Chairman Nikolai Bulganin of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union asking for consultants and experts to help establish the new Military Academy of Engineering.

On January 30, 1953, the CMC General Political Department approved the Communist Party Committee of the Academy of Military Engineering.

On August 26, 1953, Mao Zedong issued the instructions for the establishment of the Military Academy of Engineering and the first semester, and wrote the registration for it.

Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, He Long, Liu Bocheng, Luo Ronghuan and others wrote inscriptions for the college.

At the same time, the Ministry of Science and Education issued "Interim Regulations (Draft) for Postgraduate Classes" as part of the development of the academy's graduate program.

During the Cultural Revolution, the university was transitioned to the Committee of National Defense Science and Technology, and was renamed Harbin Academy of Engineering in 1966.

In 2015, the United States Department of Commerce added NUDT to the Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List.