Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering (CRCE) was established in 1984 as part of Fr. Agnel Technical Complex at Bandra, Mumbai by the Society of St. Xavier Pilar, a public and charitable trust.
The College of Engineering is named after one of its founding father, Reverent Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues who was a rare visionary and freedom fighter possessed with unbounded energy and resoluteness of purpose. Under the inspiration of this charismatic founder, the Agnel Fathers (the trustees of St. Francis Xavier Pilar) realized that their contribution to the process of nation-building would be through the spread of facilities for technical education and accordingly acquired experience in providing technical education facilities through the establishment of Technical Educational complexes in different part of country - Bandra (Mumbai), Vashi (Navi Mumbai), Verna (Goa), New Delhi, Noida, Pune, and Ambarnath (Thane). Each unit imparts technical education at various levels - skilled trades, technicians, and engineers.
Beginning with an orphanage (Bal Bhuvan) and a trade school in carpentry, the Agnel Ashram (set up in 1957 at Bandra, Mumbai) has today grown into a full-fledged Technical Complex with Industrial Training Institute, Polytechnic, and Engineering College, along with a school (Kinder Garden to 12th Standard).
Though Fr. Rodrigues did not live long enough to see his dream come true in the form of College of Engineering at Bandra, the clearance for this college had just been obtained days before his sudden demise in 1984. The college today proudly bears his name as a fitting tribute to his impassioned faith in highly qualified and fully trained engineers and technicians in the service of the nation. The visionary principles on which the institution was founded have been nurtured and fostered in succeeding years and continue to guide the functioning of the college even today.
The Institute started with only one programme in Production Engineering in 1984 with an intake capacity of 60 students. In 1987, the programme in Electronics Engineering was started with an intake capacity of 60 students followed by Computer Engineering in 1991 with an intake capacity of 60 students. In 2001, the programme in Information Technology was started with an intake capacity of 30 students which was later increased to 60 in 2010. The College started offering Master’s Degree in Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering in the year 2005, each having an intake capacity of 18. Doctoral programs in Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering commenced in 2014 and 2015 respectively. From the year 2019, a new Undergraduate degree programme in Mechanical Engineering has been started with an intake capacity of 60. Also, the BE undergraduate programme in Electronics Engineering has been changed to Electronics and Computer Science. The Undergraduate programme in Information Technology has been merged with Computer Engineering.
