diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 250f0c6..3658f32 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,4 +26,15 @@ add_subdirectory(extern/cnpy)
 add_subdirectory(src)
 
 # add project source code subdirectory
-add_subdirectory(app)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_subdirectory(app)
+
+# download and enable google testing
+include(cmake/googletest.cmake)
+fetch_googletest(
+    ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake
+    ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest
+    )
+
+enable_testing()
+# add project tests subdirectory
+add_subdirectory(test)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmake/googletest-download.cmake b/cmake/googletest-download.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4926683
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/googletest-download.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# code copied from https://crascit.com/2015/07/25/cmake-gtest/
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+project(googletest-download NONE)
+
+include(ExternalProject)
+
+ExternalProject_Add(
+  googletest
+  SOURCE_DIR "@GOOGLETEST_DOWNLOAD_ROOT@/googletest-src"
+  BINARY_DIR "@GOOGLETEST_DOWNLOAD_ROOT@/googletest-build"
+  GIT_REPOSITORY
+    https://github.com/google/googletest.git
+  GIT_TAG
+    release-1.8.0
+  CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
+  BUILD_COMMAND ""
+  INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+  TEST_COMMAND ""
+  )
diff --git a/cmake/googletest.cmake b/cmake/googletest.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ca7090
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/googletest.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# the following code to fetch googletest
+# is inspired by and adapted after https://crascit.com/2015/07/25/cmake-gtest/
+# download and unpack googletest at configure time
+
+macro(fetch_googletest _download_module_path _download_root)
+    set(GOOGLETEST_DOWNLOAD_ROOT ${_download_root})
+    configure_file(
+        ${_download_module_path}/googletest-download.cmake
+        ${_download_root}/CMakeLists.txt
+        @ONLY
+        )
+    unset(GOOGLETEST_DOWNLOAD_ROOT)
+
+    execute_process(
+        COMMAND
+            "${CMAKE_COMMAND}" -G "${CMAKE_GENERATOR}" .
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY
+            ${_download_root}
+        )
+    execute_process(
+        COMMAND
+            "${CMAKE_COMMAND}" --build .
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY
+            ${_download_root}
+        )
+
+    # adds the targers: gtest, gtest_main, gmock, gmock_main
+    add_subdirectory(
+        ${_download_root}/googletest-src
+        ${_download_root}/googletest-build
+        )
+endmacro()
diff --git a/scripts/run_tests.sh b/scripts/run_tests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acb32fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run_tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo 'Runnin Bunny Mesh Tests...'
+
+./build/bin/bunny_tests
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ac2160
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+add_executable(
+    bunny_tests
+    test_Mesh.cc
+    test_IO.cc
+  )
+
+target_link_libraries(
+    bunny_tests
+    bunny_mesh
+    gtest_main
+  )
+
+target_include_directories(
+    bunny_tests
+    PUBLIC
+    ${CMAKE_HOME_DIRECTORY}/include
+  )
+
+add_test(
+    NAME
+      unit
+    COMMAND
+      ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}/unit_tests
+  )
diff --git a/test/test_IO.cc b/test/test_IO.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c938d9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_IO.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include "bunny_mesh/data_io.h"
+
+TEST(IO, positive)
+{
+    ASSERT_TRUE(true);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test_Mesh.cc b/test/test_Mesh.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f33d055
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_Mesh.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include "bunny_mesh/Mesh.h"
+
+TEST(Mesh, positive)
+{
+    ASSERT_TRUE(true);
+}
\ No newline at end of file