It is located on the bank of the Bolgoda Lake in Katubedda, Moratuwa, a suburb of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo.

Its roots go back to the Institute of Practical Technology founded in 1960 to provide technical education.The University of Moratuwa is an independent state university in Katubedda, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka overlooking Bolgoda Lake.

Its origin can be traced to the Government Technical College (GTC) which was established in Maradana, Colombo in 1893.

[7] The GTC was one of the first institutions for formal technical education in Sri Lanka (the Ceylon Medical School was established in 1870, followed by Colombo Law College (1875), School of Agriculture (1884) and the Government Technical College (1893)).

It became the pioneering institution for science education in Sri Lanka and its name was changed to the Ceylon Technical College (CTC) in 1906.

The first president was Dr. LH Sumanadasa who steered the progress of the institution and was the principal of the IPT before it became the Katubedda Campus.

[8] Students from the University of Moratuwa have participated in Google Summer of Code from 2007 to 2011,[9][10][11] Imagine Cup Sri Lanka,[12] and IEEEXtreme Competition.

[9] The University of Moratuwa won the Microsoft Imagine Cup Sri Lankan Software Design Finals in five out of eight occasions, including 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2012.

The divisions and units above are established to provide training and research for academics and professionals.

In addition, the Faculty offers a large number of post-graduate degrees in varied engineering and allied disciplines.

[26][27] The vice-chancellor is the principal academic and administrative officer of the university, responsible for the management tasks.

These include cultural and religious groups, academic clubs and common-interest organisations.

The Department of Physical Education[30] caters to the student population of the university in sports.