It was established in 1963 under the Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust (RSST) and was one of the earliest self-financing engineering colleges in the country.

If two or more candidates have the same GATE score, the highest percentage in qualifying undergraduate courses shall decide the merit.

It is recognised as a centre of excellence under Technical Education Quality Improvement Program by Government of India.

[15] Team Antariksh is a student satellite team established in 2015 that aims to build a nanosatellite and sounding rocket with a research based payload, guided and monitored by various scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre and faculty from RVCE.

The pico satellite was launched by the PSLV C-15 on 12 June 2010 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The panchromatic images are designed to provide terrain information during the satellite's short lifespan of six months to one year.

[20] Team Vyoma is a student group that designs and manufactures UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to participate in Aerodesign competitions conducted by the Society of Automotive Engineers in Marietta, GA; and in Brazil.

[21][22] Team Helios Racing is a group of students who designed an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) that can travel on muddy swamps and climb up hills.

[24] IEEE PES RVCE chapter was Inaugurated in the year 2015 which organises events pertaining to Electrical Engineering.

[25][26] Project Garuda members were the only team from India to participate in the Shell Eco Marathon held at Rockingham Raceway, Corby, UK.

[28] In June 2008, the students developed a prototype of a hybrid-electric vehicle that uses both electric energy and diesel mixed with bio-diesel.