Established in 1945 to train military engineers for the State, the school began to recruit civil students in 1957 and became the first aeronautical engineering school to be decentralised and transferred to Toulouse in 1961. The exceptional environment of this city and of the Midi-Pyrenees Region, as well as the considerable development of their universities and industries, contributed to the rapid growth of the school. Moreover, it benefited greatly from the substantial support of the Aeronautical Test Centre of Toulouse (CEAT), near which it had been located.The ENSICA committed itself to training ''general'' engineers, through a coherent pedagogical programme centered around mechanics, fluid mechanics and systems, and organized as a whole, with neither majors not options nor specializations. At a time when the aeronautical and space industry was undergoing the outstanding expansion of these past fifteen years, the ENSICA was thus able to provide industry with engineers who fully met their needs, capable of integrating pluridisciplinary teams rapidly and then of heading them. At present, therefore, ENSICA engineers are very highly considered in the aeronautical and space industries, in which they now hold many various positions, often at a high level.These achievements have clearly been appreciated by applicants, who have placed the ENSICA at the top of the list of schools in its category for several years now. This situation has encouraged the school to progressively increase the number of its students to over one hundred per year at present. Concurrently, these students have reached an even higher level of competence.These last ten years have also been influenced by the European factor. The symbolic year 1993 has mobilized energies and given rise to many initiatives, enabling engineering schools to undertake a salutary process of renewal and reform. The main consequences of this process and of the resulting changes have been the internationalisation of training which has led to the development of networks of schools, the emergence and the expansion of research in schools, and the introduction of the humanities in the curriculum.The ENSICA has been particularly active during this period, as it has thoroughly redefined its pedagogical programme, developed research within the framework of original concepts and multiplied its international activity.Its forthcoming status as a semi-autonomous public institution promises to give the school new expansion and enable it to fulfil ever higher aspirations.