Mahatma Education Society’s Pillai College of Engineering, PCE, was established in 1999 (commencement of courses from A.Y. 2000-2001) as a self financed Malayalam Linguistic Minority Institute affiliated to University of Mumbai, approved by AICTE and Recognized by Govt. of Maharashtra. The college is recognized by UGC under section 12(b) and 2(f).

Pillai College of Engineering was started as Pillai Institute of Information Technology, Engineering, Media Studies and Research, and popularly known as PIIT in the year 2000. The name of the institute was changed as Pillai College of Engineering in the year 2016. The brand name of MES and the proactive steps taken by the institute for providing quality education and making industry ready engineers, made PCE as a leader in engineering education under University of Mumbai.

The college has an enrollment of about 2700+ students in its 6 UG, 4 PG and 3 PhD Research Centers. PCE is known for interdisciplinary centers for excellence, infrastructure, value added courses, job oriented training programs, project based learning, maker spaces and the Festival of Joy- ALEGRIA.

Pillai College of Engineering is accredited with A+ grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in its first cycle for five years. Four departments of PCE, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Information Technology and Mechanical Engineering were accredited by National Board of Accreditation, NBA, for 3 years from 2008. The college applied for NBA again in 2015 for its Computer, Electronics and Mechanical departments and received accreditation for 3 years. Subsequently in the year 2018, these three departments have been successfully reaccredited for next three years till 2021. Four accredited programs of PCE namely Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Information technology and Mechanical Engineering have been awarded Permanent Affiliation status by University of Mumbai since AY 2013-14. Pillai College of Engineering is celebrating 20th Anniversary in the year 2020.