Education at the Department has begun in 1962/63 school year, by transition of the first generation of students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering to the second level of studies. Title, nature and objectives of the Department had changed in accordance with the development of the Department: from Preparative production course (1962), through Organizational technological course (1966), Course of production and organization (1974), Course of production engineering and organization (1980) to the Course of production engineering (since 1989 until today). Education at the Course of industrial engineering has begun in year 2000.

The fact that the Faculty acts in the city that is a centre  of automotive industry in the country was determinable for the formation and development of the Department for motor vehicles and motors, because the motor vehicles major, and, later, motor vehicles and motors major, had been existing since the establishment of the Faculty.

The Department for motor vehicles and motors is a carrier of multiple activities like:

• giving lectures at basic, master and doctoral studies on motor vehicles and motors major and road traffic major,
• realization of scientific-research projects in cooperation with the corresponding governmental ministries and the economy,
• publishing of the journal "Mobility & Vehicle Mechanics" ,
• organization of international congress "Motor Vehicles & Motors -MVM" (every even year, in Kragujevac),
• cooperation with similar institutions in the country and abroad,
• professional support for laboratories and centres at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from the field of motor vehicles and motors.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Kragujevac began to work as a department of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from Belgrade, in October 1960, at Construction department for students of the first level of studies. Later, the graded studies were abolished, but the Construction major had always existed.

With the change in curriculum, an idea about the need to open a new department that would educate graduated engineers constructors of general profile had matured. Response of the economy has been very favourable. In 1978, a decision was made to form the Department for mechanical constructions at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Kragujevac.

Brief history

The department was established in 1987, as a result of the efforts of the faculty of Mechanical Engineering to respond to the challenges of competition in the field of academic education and research in the field of energy and process engineering. Energy and process engineering major started its work in parallel with the emergence of the Department.  The founders and the first members of the Department were Svetislav Stojkovic, Ph.D., full professor, Milun Babic, Ph.D., associate professor and Milorad Bojić, Ph.D., assistant professor.

Professor Svetislav Stojkovic, Ph.D., had been the Head of the Department between 1987 and 1994 and had greatly contributed to improvement of the Energy and process engineering Department and Major, in personnel, teaching, scientific and research sense, with his creative and encouraging engagement, both as a manager and a professor, until his retirement.

The department is the basic form of organization of educational-research unit at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from Kragujevac. According to the current Statute on the Faculty, there is still a total of only five departments, whereby, the Department for applied mechanics and automatic control (PMAU).

Since the establishment of the University "Svetozar Markovic" in Kragujevac, on May 21^st, 1976, (today's University of Kragujevac) and continuing until 1990, at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, there existed only a couple of Departments and a Group for general and fundamental disciplines, as a precursor of the Department for applied mechanics and automatic control. The Group mentioned included physics, mathematics and mechanics of stiff and elastic bodies, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics - mainly courses with general professional content.