The Laboratory evolved from the Metallurgical Machinery Laboratory of the former Wuhan Institute of Iron and Steel. Founded in 1952 by Professor Zhu Hai, a renowned Chinese expert in metallurgical machinery, the Laboratory was transferred as a whole from the former Huazhong Institute of Technology to the University in 1960. Over several decades of development, it gradually evolved into a comprehensive research laboratory with metallurgical machinery as its core focus, while also covering research areas such as construction machinery, fluid power transmission and control, and automotive engineering. In 1998, it was designated as a university-level key laboratory by Wuhan University of Metallurgical Science and Technology. In December 2002, it was approved for establishment as a Key Laboratory of Hubei Province. In November 2008, it was approved by the Ministry of Education for the establishment of the Key Laboratory of Metallurgical Equipment and Control, jointly supported by Hubei Province and the Ministry of Education. The Laboratory passed the acceptance evaluation organized by the Ministry of Education in October 2010. In December 2018, it successfully passed the Ministry of Education's five-year evaluation covering the period from January 2013 to December 2017, receiving a rating of "Good."

The Laboratory is supported by the first-level discipline of Mechanical Engineering, which is included in Hubei Province's "Double First-Class" discipline development initiative. Mechanical Engineering was rated in Category B in both the fourth and fifth rounds of China's national discipline evaluations, placing it within the top 20%–30% nationwide. In 2025, both Mechanical Engineering and Instrument Science and Technology were included in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. Mechanical Engineering also ranked among the top 20% in the 2025 ShanghaiRanking's Best Chinese Subjects Ranking, while Engineering entered the global top 1% according to the Essential Science Indicators (ESI).

In response to China's national strategies of building a strong manufacturing nation and promoting the rise of the central region, the Laboratory addresses major national needs in strategic industries such as iron and steel and automotive manufacturing. Building on the two first-level disciplines of Mechanical Engineering and Instrument Science and Technology, the Laboratory focuses on key scientific issues related to the design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance, and control mechanisms of metallurgical equipment; the interaction mechanisms between metallurgical processes and the ecological environment under complex operating conditions; and the life-extension mechanisms of materials and structures under extreme environments.

Four major research areas have been established: mechanical behavior and reliability design of metallurgical equipment; forming technologies and equipment for high-performance iron and steel materials; low-carbon circular technologies and equipment for metallurgical production; and robotic intelligent equipment for hazardous, specialized, and harsh metallurgical environments. Through these research areas, the Laboratory has developed into a comprehensive innovation base integrating talent development, disciplinary advancement, and scientific research, and has become an important platform for innovation and technological development in the field of metallurgical equipment and control in China.