The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering was founded in 1975 as the second department of the Faculty of Engineering in Xanthi and accepted its first 40 students. Initially, the department was separated into four independent sectors based on law 1268/82 with their own staff and laboratories. Quite recently (in 2003), a fifth sector has been added to the existing four with two new laboratories: The Sectors of the Department are: 1. the Sector of Energy Systems, 2. the Sector of Electronics and IT Technology Systems, 3. the Sector of Telecommunications and Space, 4. the Physics and Applied Mathematics Sector and 5. the Sector of Software and Applications Development.
The ongoing and unprecedented expansion of the science of Electronics Engineering inevitably led to the provision and development of highly specialized education. Towards this direction, studies in the Department have been organized in two cycles since 1989, i.e. that for Energy Electronics Engineers and the other one for Electronics and Computer Engineer, with distinct directions in each one of these courses of study. A third cycle of studies was added in 1999, that concerns Telecommunications Electronics Engineering.
In 1993, in accordance with the presidential decree 266, the Department was renamed into its current name, i.e. Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering as a way to formally acknowledge the specialty of Computer Engineering whose subject area has always been and is still taught via its rigorously updated Curriculum.
Since 1994-1995, the Department offers an organized Graduate Program of studies that lead to the acquisition of a PhD diploma. As a result of a new ministerial decision in 2000-2001, the Program can also grant Master’s Degrees to its graduate students. 
As of 2008-2009 academic year, the greatest part of the everyday academic life in the Department takes place in two new buildings, i.e. the Building where the Amphitheater, Teaching Classrooms and the Secretary are housed (Building A) and the Building where offices and Laboratories are accommodated (Building B). The Department uses only one building (no. XIII) in the prefabricated building blocks that belong to the Faculty of Engineering at the city centre of Xanthi, where most of its laboratory equipment is housed.
The duration of undergraduate studies in the Department is five (5) years and are organized into ten (10) academic semesters.