ESPOL Polytechnic University

The school was created on October 24, 1958, through Executive Decree 1664 by President Camilo Ponce Enriquez, as a higher education institution.

ESPOL was inaugurated on Tuesday, May 19, 1959, and classes began the following Monday, May 25. Its first location was the Casona building of the Universidad de Guayaquil. The area around the historical Peñas area provided a central location in the city, and the buildings in that area were bought by ESPOL with an initial payment of 12 million sucres.

In 1969, the Quinto Guayas Battalion gave ESPOL the area between the Simón Bolívar embankment and Loja Street, where the four engineering departments were located.

In 1973, the Ecuadorian marines moved from their base in Guayaquil, and in their place, new installations for the Facultad de Ingenieria Maritima y Ciencias del Mar were constructed.

Cecilia Paredes Verduga became the vice-rector of ESPOL in 2012, when Sergio Flores Macías was the rector.[2] She was also the director of the materials testings and director of the Polytechnic's Center for Research and Development in Nanotechnology.

In 2017 Cecilia Paredes Verduga was promoted to be ESPOL's rector. It was the first time since ESPOL was founded 59 years ago that it was led by a woman. In 2021, ESPOL was ranked in the top 100 universities in Latin America at number 74.

In 2022 Cecilia Paredes Verduga was re-elected for a second five-year term as rector by the students, teaching ESPOL staff and employees. She was elected on her manifesto on transforming ESPOL for the upcoming digital revolution. Paola Romero Crespo was elected as the vice President.[6]