Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
Main (administrative) building
Motto	"श्रमं विना न किमपि साध्यम्" "Sramam Vina Na Krimapi Sadhyam"
Motto in English	Nothing Is Possible Without Hard Work
Established	1847
Type	Public
Chairman	Analjit Singh
Director	P. Banerji
Deputy Director	D. K. Paul
Academic staff	342
Admin. staff	1220
Students	4137
Location	Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
Campus	Urban
Former names	University of Roorkee (1948–2001), Thomason College of Civil Engineering (1853–1948), College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee (1847–1853)
Website	www.iitr.ac.in

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (commonly known as IIT Roorkee or IITR), formerly the University of Roorkee (1948-2001) and the Thomason College of Civil Engineering (1853-1948), is a public university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. Established in 1847 in British India by the then lieutenant governor, Sir James Thomason, it was given university status in 1949 and was converted into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2001, thus becoming the seventh IIT to be declared.

The IIT Roorkee has 18 academic departments covering Engineering, Applied Sciences, Humanities & Social Sciences and Management programs with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.^[1]

The IIT Roorkee has a strong entrepreneurial culture, with many alumni who have moved on to found technological and social ventures in India and abroad, and have played an important role in the development of India.^[2] Ten alumni have won the Padma Bhushan awards, two have won the Padma Vibhushan awards and twenty five alumni have won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology award. The institute has produced seven chairmen of the Indian Railway Board, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, more than a hundred secretary-level officers in the Government of India, two presidents of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Governors of states of India, Members of Parliament, chairmen of University Grants Commission (India), six Directors of the Indian Institutes of Technology, Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of prominent Indian Universities, and presidents of Engineering and Scientific organizations like the Indian Institution of Engineers, the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian National Academy of Engineering.^[3]

History [edit]

The institution has its origins in a class started in 1845 to train local youth in engineering to assist in public works then beginning.^[4] In 1847 it was officially established.^[5] It was renamed as the Thomason College of Civil Engineering in 1854 in honour of its founder, Sir James Thomason, lieutenant governor 1843–53.^[4] The first Indian to pass out from the Roorkee college was Rai Bahadur Kanhaiya Lal in 1852.^{[citation needed]}

Initially, the college had engineers' class only for Europeans, upper subordinate class for Europeans and Indians and lower subordinate class for Indians only. Such was the reputation of the college, that the recruitment of the Engineering students was directly controlled by the Public Works Departments (PWD). Every student was guaranteed a post in the PWD/irrigation departments. Alumni of University of Roorkee played important roles in all the areas of engineering primarily civil, including maintenance of the Ganges canal, construction of dam and irrigation projects like Bhakra Nangal, the Rajasthan canal, the Aswan dam on the Nile in Egypt, and construction of Chandigarh.

Between 1934 to 1943, officers of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers received training at the Thomason College of Engineering and, even after the establishment of the School of Military Engineering (SME) at Roorkee in 1943, they continued to receive technical training at Thomason. In 1948 when SME was moved to Dapodi, Pune.^[6] It was given the status of University by Act No. IX of 1948 of the United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh) and was titled University of Roorkee. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, presented the Charter in November 1949, elevating the erstwhile college to the first engineering university of independent India. Soil scientist Jagdish Narain was the first student to be admitted into the university under this act.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 September 2001, an ordinance issued by the Government of India declared it as the nation's seventh Indian Institute of Technology, renaming it to the current name, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. The ordinance was converted into an act by the Parliament to make IIT Roorkee an "Institution of National Importance".^[7]

The Department of Civil Engineering was established in 1847 and is the oldest engineering department in India. The department offers a four-year course leading to the Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering and two-year courses leading to Master’s degree in eight major specialisations of civil engineering (viz., Building Science and Technology, Computer Aided Design, Environmental Engineering, Geomatics Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Hydraulics Engineering, Structural Engineering and Transportation Engineering). These programmes are supported with strong doctoral programmes in all the specialisations. More than 100 Ph. D. research scholars work in the department on emerging research problems. The research programmes of the department are funded by various agencies such as UGC, CSIR, DST, MOST, ISRO, MHRD, AICTE, DRDO etc. Research fellows working on these programmes are also eligible to register for the PhD., as per the Institute’s guidelines. Teaching faculty of other engineering colleges under the Quality Improvement programme also conduct research at the department to earn Ph.D. Degree.

The Electrical Engineering Department of the Thomson College was established in the year 1897, and was one of the earliest such specializations in the world when the discipline itself was in its infancy. The first batch of Electrical Engineering students graduated in 1900. For a few years, between 1923 and 1946, a special committee had recommended that the College may be converted into a purely Civil Engineering Institution, but another special committee favored the reopening of the disciplines of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. The present Department of Electrical Engineering came into being in 1946 and the first batch of electrical engineering graduates passed out of this college in 1949. Initially, the Department offered courses with options in both Electrical and Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering. Subsequently in 1964, the department was enlarged to have only Electrical Engineering, and a separate department of Electronics & Communication Engineering was created. Presently the Department conducts courses both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and provides excellent facilities to carry out research work for Ph. D. degree and sponsored/ consultancy projects.

The Department has specialization in research areas such as Artificial neural network and Fuzzy logic applications in Robotics and control, Distribution system planning and operation, Economic dispatch and planning, Flexible AC transmission system, Optimal system operation, Power system protection, monitoring, control and simulation, Power quality, Relay coordination, Power system automation, Artificial intelligence applications and Voltage stability of power system, Telemedicine, ECG signal analysis and classification, Digital signal and image processing, Intelligent instrumentation, Industrial instrumentation, Medical system modeling, Instrumentation and bio-informatics, Process instrumentation and control, System analysis and optimization, Data base management, FPGA based control, System automation and monitoring, Reliability engineering, Robotics, System modeling, Computer controlled system including process control, Computer controlled multi-quadrant solid-state converters, Condition monitoring of electrical machines/drives, High performance computer controlled DC and AC drives, Modeling and simulation of electric machines.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering came into being in the year 1946 and the first batch of Mechanical Engineers graduated in the year 1949. The department was renamed as Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering on its silver jubilee in 1974 when an undergraduate programme in Industrial Engineering was started. At present it offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in various facets of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. The department offers Master of Technology courses in Machine Design Engineering, Production and Industrial Systems Engineering, Thermal System Engineering, and Welding Engineering. The department has also started M.Tech programme in CAD, CAM and Robotics from the year 2005.

Telecommunication education at IIT Roorkee dates back to 1957 when a B.E. programme in Telecommunication was started in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the then University of Roorkee. In view of the increasing importance of the Electronics Engineering discipline, a separate Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering was established in 1964 to offer Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication and Master of Engineering degrees in Advanced Electronics and Applied Electronics & Servomechanisms. In 1968, the postgraduate programme was restructured with specializations in the areas of Communication Systems, Control and guidance, Microwaves and Radar, and Solid State Electronics. Two new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Computer Science and Technology were started in the year 1982. Keeping in view the activities of the department, the name was changed to Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering in 1987.

The Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering was established in 1963 with the intake of sixty students for undergraduate curriculum leading to Bachelors degree. Later, post-graduation curriculum was started in 1969. The Department has been actively involved in research since its inception and the first award of PhD degree is recorded in 1972. Earlier, the faculty members were engaged in research in the areas of Physical Metallurgy, Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Metal extraction and Powder Metallurgy. In the early 70's, a number of new faculty members joined and started activities in the areas of Ferrites, Composite Materials and Electroless coatings of amorphous and microcrystalline (now called nanocrystalline) Ni-P and Co-P. It was increasingly realized that the barriers between Metals, Ceramics and Polymers needs to be broken and an integrated approach to Materials should be evolved. The name of the Department was changed from Department of Metallurgy to Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in the year 2001 with the introduction of courses in Polymers and Ceramics at the curriculum level through research on Metal-Ceramic joining, Metal-Ceramic composites and Metal-Polymer joining.

The Department of Chemical Engineering was established in 1963 with an Undergraduate programme in Chemical Engineering. A Master’s course in Equipment and Plant Design was initiated in 1970. Later on, two new Master’s courses namely Industrial Pollution Abatement and Advanced Transfer Processes were inducted. Subsequently, the specialisation of Equipment and Plant Design was redesigned, updated and re-christened as Computer Aided Process Plant Design. At present, the Department is running three post-graduate programmes leading to M.Tech. (Chem.) degree with specialization in Computer Aided Process Plant Design, Industrial Pollution Abatement and Industrial Safety & Hazards Management. A five-year integrated programme on Hydrocarbon Engineering offering dual degree of B.Tech. (Chem. Engg.) and M.Tech. (Hydrocarbon Engineering) has been started from the session 2003-04.

The Architecture Course was started at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee in the year 1956-57. In the year 1961, the Department was housed in its own independent building and premises. The B.Arch. course was recognized by the Indian Institute of Architects in December 1961. The Department has the singular distinction of being the first in INDIA in instituting a Masters degree course in Architecture (M. Arch.) in the year 1969-70. This was eventually raised to an independent course of Masters Degree in Urban and Rural Planning (MURP) in the year 1973-74.

The Department of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry were started in 1960 and currently offer Master of Sciences and Masters of Technology courses.

The Department of Paper Technology located at the Saharanpur Campus of IITR offers academic programs at various levels in Pulp and Paper Technology, Polymer Science and Technology, Process Engineering and Management. The Department is the predecessor of the School of Paper Technology established by the Government of India in 1964, with an aid from the Royal Swedish Government. This school was managed by a society created by the U.P. Government until its merger with the then University of Roorkee in 1978. The school was renamed as the Institute of Paper Technology in July 1968 and subsequently Department of Paper Technology in July 1992.

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences was established in 1966 for teaching English and Social Sciences to engineering students. During the course of more than forty years, it has grown into a vibrant department with teaching and research programmes encompassing almost all the departments of the institute with its core, elective, and Pre-Ph.D. papers numbering thirty one now. There are, then, evening courses in German and French languages. Till date, seventy two scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degree in different disciplines of the department, and fourteen students are currently registered for this programme. The faculty members have been engaged in sponsored research projects and consultancy. So far 6 major and 12 minor projects and 10 consultancy projects have been undertaken by the members of faculty. Besides 405 research papers and book chapters, 25 books have also been published by the teachers, whose scholarship has been highlighted through various national and international recognitions.

The Centre of Biosciences was started in 1980 and upgraded to a full-fledged academic Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology in 1986. It was renamed as the Department of Biotechnology in the year 2002. The department has teaching and research programmes which encompass various basic and applied aspects of modern biotechnology. The M.Sc.(Biotechnology) course of the Department is being funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. A B.Tech.(Biotechnology) course has been started in 2005.

Administration [edit]

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Academics [edit]

IIT Roorkee offers academic programmes in Engineering, Technology, Applied Sciences, and Management. It runs eleven undergraduate (UG), five integrated dual degree, three integrated M.Tech., three integrated M.Sc., sixty one postgraduate (PG) and several doctoral programmes.^[8]

The institute admits students to B.Tech., B.Arch. and integrated M.Tech/M.Sc courses through the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted at centers all over India. Before being converted into an IIT, the university selected students through the Roorkee Entrance Exam (REE) conducted on an All-India level. The selectivity of REE was close to 2%. After IIT-JEE, it was considered to be the second toughest engineering entrance examination in India.^[9] Admission to PG programmes in engineering and architecture is on the basis of GATE score and/or a written test and interview. For PG programmes in fundamental sciences admission is based on the Joint Admission Test (JAM).^[10]

Along with the engineering courses, the institute offers a two-year residential MBA program for which the admissions, starting from 2011, will be done on the basis of Common Admission Test, thus replacing Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) previously conducted by IITs.^[11] The institute also offers an interdisciplinary program in computer applications leading to a degree in Master of computer applications (MCA). The MCA program is a three-year course and admission for the course is through JAM.

According to statistics published by institute in 2007–08 4137 students were enrolled in the institute across all programs. The student-to-academic-staff ratio was 2.6:1 and that of UG/PG students was 1.4:1.^[12]

As in other IITs, the institute follows a credit system for evaluating academic performance. The grade point average (GPA) is on a scale of 0 to 10. Courses are allotted number of credits according to their importance. Each academic year is divided into two semesters and teaching programmes are organized around the credit system. Teaching includes lectures, tutorials, practicals, projects, seminars, dissertations, and field and industrial training.

Rankings [edit]

Internationally, IIT Roorkee was ranked 401–450 in general category and 194 in Engineering and Technology in the QS World University Rankings of 2011^[13] and 65 in the QS Asian University Rankings of 2012.^[14] In India, among engineering colleges, it ranked 6 by India Today in 2012^[15] and 6 by Outlook India in 2011.^[16] In the Mint government colleges survey of 2009 it ranked 7.^[18]

Departments and centres [edit]

IIT Roorkee has 18 academic departments covering engineering, applied sciences, humanities & social sciences, and management programs, 1 academic centres, 4 supporting service centres and a large number of research centers.^[19]

The Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department

• Departments
  • Engineering and Applied Sciences
    • Architecture and Planning
    • Biotechnology
    • Chemical Engineering
    • Civil Engineering^[20]
    • Earthquake Engineering
    • Earth Sciences
    • Electrical Engineering
    • Electronics and Computer Engineering
    • Hydrology Engineering
    • Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
    • Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
    • Paper Technology
    • Textile Technology
    • Wood Science and Forest Products

• • Sciences
    • Chemistry
    • Mathematics
    • Physics
    • Statistics
  • Business
    • Management Studies
  • Humanities
    • Humanities and Social Sciences

Computer Centre

• • Centers
  • Academic Centres
    • Alternate Hydro Energy Centre
  • Academic Service centers
    • Mahatma Gandhi Central Library
    • Center for Integrated Sciences
    • Center for Research & Innovation
    • Centre of Nanotechnology
    • Centre for Transportation Systems
    • Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation & Management
    • Continuing Education Centre
    • Information Super Highway Centre
    • Institute Computer Centre
    • Institute Instrumentation Centre
    • Intellectual Property Rights Cell
    • Quality Improvement Programme
    • TIFAC Core
  • Supporting Service Centres
    • Educational Technology Cell
    • Institute Hospital

Library [edit]

Mahatma Gandhi Central Library finds a unique place in the academic spectrum of the Institute. Started in 1848 with a few hundred donated books, its collection has grown to more than 3,50,000 documents in all media. Providing information through e-resources is the main focus of the Library. It has around 90,000 sq ft of fully airconditioned space. It can accommodate more than 500 readers at any point of time. The library building is WiFi enabled and contains a total 75 user terminals for dedicated readers. It also contains an 80-seater open reading room.^[21]

Research [edit]

Research activities at the institute are conducted at either the department level or under the central office of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC).^[22] Major research funding was awarded by several ministries and departments of the Government of India, including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and others. Apart from these, a number of major research organizations who have awarded projects to IIT Roorkee include the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Space Research Organisation and others.^[23]

Academic collaboration [edit]

IIT Roorkee has academic collaboration with the many universities in India and abroad.^[24] The collaborative programmes include student and faculty exchange, internship for students and joint research activities among others.

Some of the major universities which have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IIT Roorkee are National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore; Royal Institute of Technology(KTH), Stockholm; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL); Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland (ETH); Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany; Institut National des Télécommunications, Évry, France; University of Texas at Dallas, USA; New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) at Newark, USA; University of Waterloo, Canada; University of Western Ontario, Canada

IIT Roorkee's contribution towards the international community in science and technology include the courses and training programs run for developing countries. Every year students from more than 50 countries join IIT Roorkee for full-time or short-term training courses. In 1955 the department of Water Resources Development and Management (WRDM) was established as an Asian African Centre to honour India's commitment at the Asian African Conference held in Bandung.^[25] WRDM and the Department of Hydrology run special postgraduate programmes for students of the Afro Asian region. The department has so far trained over 2469 in service engineers and agricultural scientists from 48 countries including India.^[25] The courses offered by the Department of Hydrology are presently sponsored by the Government of India and the UNESCO.^[26]

Research organizations in India which have a MOU with IIT Roorkee include Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun; Department of Atomic Engineering (DAE), Mumbai; Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd.; Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital among others.^[24]

Campus [edit]

The main campus in Roorkee has an area of 365 acres (1,480,000 m²).^[27]

IIT Roorkee has a campus of 25 acres (100,000 m²) in Saharanpur which offers courses in Polymer Science, Process Engineering and Paper Technology.^[27] In addition to this, a new ten-acre campus has been established in Greater Noida, Knowledge Park II, which was inaugurated on April 4, 2011. The Noida extension centre has 16 lecture rooms, software laboratories, faculty offices, a library and a computer centre.^[28]

Student housing (bhawans) [edit]

Most students live in the hostels, where extracurricular activities complement the academic routine. The campus has 16 hostels, of which three (Sarojini, Kasturba and Indira) are occupied by girls.^[29] Hostels may accommodate undergraduate and graduate students along with doctoral students. Students are assigned to hostels by the school administration after their freshmen year. There are six hostels for married students, doctoral students and foreign students. Each bhawan has a mess. Mess administration consists of a staff advisor, a chief advisor, and a student mess secretary.

Student activities [edit]

Students conduct two fests every year, Cognizance^[30](Technical festival) and Thomso(Cultural festival). Cognizance, India's second largest technical festival is 9001:2008 certified and operates a quality management system in organizing its events.^[31]

Student groups on the campus include STIFKI (Student Teacher Interaction Forum for Knowledge and Innovation), IMG (Information Management Group), SDSLabs (Software Development Section Labs), GIL^[32] (Group for Interactive Learning), EDC (Entrepreneurship Development Cell), HEC (Himalayan Explorers' Club), Literary Society (Active involvement in debating and quizzing),a local chapter of ShARE, Spic Macay in addition to student chapters of technical societies such as ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, IIT Roorkee Student Section), SAE, IEEE, etc. The Cultural Society (dramatics, music, choreography, cinematic, literary, audio, lights, Programme management, Kshitij, Watch Out) takes all initiative related to cultural activities in the institute. It organizes music concerts, dance shows, dramas and quiz competitions. ^[33]

IIT Roorkee has a hobbies club, one of its kind among IITs. It aims at facilitating activities like photography, philately, astronomy, fine arts, gardening, web design, etc. It is headed by a chief advisor, who is supported by two deputy chief advisors and a council secretary. It hosts SRISHTI, an annual techno-hobby exhibition.^[34]

IIT Roorkee Motorsports is the official Formula Student team of IIT Roorkee. It was founded in August 2010. The team designed and developed a formula style race car and represented India in the international competition Formula SAE Australasia in December 2011, held in Melbourne, Australia. This was the first Indian team to finish the endurance event of the competition and also finished first in fuel efficiency^{[citation needed]}. The team also enjoys the rare feat of displaying their student-made race car at Auto Expo 2012. After a successful international debut, the team has plans to develop a series hybrid vehicle and participate in the Formula Student UK 2013.

Alumni [edit]

The IIT Roorkee has produced many alumni who played important roles in the technological development of India and made significant impact on corporate world. According to IIT Roorkee's website, ten alumni have won Padma Bhushan awards and 25 have been Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology awardees. The institute has produced seven chairmen of the Indian Railway Board, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, more than a hundred secretary-level officers in the Government of India, two presidents of the Confederation of Indian Industry, six directors of IITs, and presidents of bodies related to engineers and scientists like the Indian Institution of Engineers, the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian National Academy of Engineering.^[3]

Notable alumni [edit]

• Vinita Gupta, founder, CEO of Quick Eagle Networks and first Indian-origin-woman to take her company public^[35]
• Amit Singhal, Google Fellow, rewrote the Google search algorithm in 2000.^[36]
• Dr. Rakesh Agrawal, is a Microsoft Fellow and ex-IBM fellow widely known as the 'Father of Data Mining'^[37]
• Amit Agarwal, prominent technology columnist at WSJ, India's first professional blogger, currently the highest paid Indian blogger in terms of Google Adsense revenue, Founder of Digital Inspiration, Founder of Labnol
• Mangu Singh, Current chief of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC)
• R K Tyagi, Chairman of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL), ex Chairman and Managing Director of Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd.
• Ravi Sharma, CEO, Adani Power Limited, ex-CEO of Videocon
• Peter de Noronha, businessman, philanthropist, knighted by Pope Paul VI in 1965 for his work for the Christian community in India.
• Narendra Patni, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Patni Computer Systems^[38]
• Dinesh Paliwal, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harman International Industries^[39]
• Ajudhiya Nath Khosla, eminent Indian engineer, educationist, visionary and recipient of second highest civilian honor of India - Padma Vibhushan, awarded in 1977. Served as Member of the Planning Commission, Governor of Orissa, President of National Science Academy and Vice Chancellor of the University of Roorkee(now IIT Roorkee)
• Ajit Gupta, founder, President, CEO of Aryaka; founder, chairman of AAyuja;^[40] founder, ex-CEO of Speedera; founder, chairman of Jantakhoj^[41]
• Ashok Soota, founder of Happiest Minds Technologies, co-founder of MindTree, ex-president of Wipro Infotech^[42]
• Ashish Sinha, founder and Editor-in-chief of Pluggd.in, an English-language news service founded in 2007 with focus on Business, Technology and Entrepreneurship and the third largest online business readership service.
• Naveen Jain, founder and CEO of Intelius, founder of Moon Express, InfoSpace^[43]
• Sir William Willcocks, British civil engineer who graduated from 1872 batch. He is remembered as a renowned irrigation engineer, having proposed the first Aswan Dam and undertaken major projects of irrigation in South Africa and Turkey.
• Sir Ganga Ram, a leading philanthropist and agriculturist. A civil engineer by profession and a graduate of the 1873 batch, Sir Ganga Ram supervised the construction of several prominent structures in Punjab. Referred to as ‘Father of modern Lahore’.^[44]
• E. Balagurusamy, former Vice Chancellor of Anna University & a former Union Public Service Commission Member.
• Subodh Bhargava, Former Group Chairman and CEO at Eicher
• Kanwar Sen, was Chief Engineer of Bikaner credited with the creation of the Indira Gandhi canal in Rajasthan and Punjab. Awarded Padma Bhushan in 1956
• Pradip Baijal, IAS and former chairman Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)^[45]
• Nilmani Mitra, 19th century architect, designer of several palaces in Kolkata^[46]
• Jaiprakash Gaur, founder chairman of Jaiprakash Associates and Jaypee Group of companies.Ranked by Forbes magazine as the 48th-richest person in India.^[47][48]
• G. D. Agrawal, Eminent environmental engineer, Save Ganga activist and former Head of the Department at IIT Kanpur. He is notable for his successful fast in 2009 to stop the damming of the Bhagirathi River.^[49]
• D C Baijal, served as Chairman of Indian Railways and Chairman of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL)
• Ghananand Pande, served as Chairman of Indian Railways in 1954 and Chairman of Hindustan Steels. Awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 1969
• Karnail Singh, served as Chairman of Indian Railways in 1960
• S S Khurana, served as Chairman of Indian Railways in 2009
• R K Singh, served as Chairman of Indian Railways in 2003
• Jai Krishna, Eminent scholar on Earthquake engineering, instrumental in setting up the first and the only Earthquake Engineering department in India, at the IIT Roorkee. Awarded Padma Bhushan in 1956. Served as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Roorkee in 1969.
• Ashok Bhatnagar, served as Chairman of Indian Railways in 1994 and Principal Secretary to Govt. of India
• R K Jain, served as Chairman of Indian Railways in 1987

Alumni association [edit]

The IIT Roorkee Alumni Association was established and registered in 1940 as a society under the Society Registration Act. The association has 31 local chapters in the country and three chapters abroad.^[50] The association encourages the alumni to take interest in the activities of the alma mater and promotes relations between alumni.

Every year the association hosts Diamond, Golden and Silver jubilee functions, where alumni graduating 60, 50 and 25 years earlier are invited. Since 2001 the association has also been awarding a Distinguished Alumni Award to alumni who have made immense contributions in the fields of Academic/Research, Social Sciences, Engineering & Public Administration, Corporate Development/Entrepreneurship and Service to the Society.^[51]

The Student Alumni Mentorship Programme has been initiated by the association to help young students in achieving their career aspirations. The alumni visit the institute to interact with the students and staff and share their suggestions.

References [edit]

Further reading [edit]

• Account of Roorkee College (Thomson Civil Engineering College). Agra, Secundra Orphan Press. 1851. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: IIT Roorkee

• Official website
• IIT Roorkee Heritage Foundation
• IIT Roorkee Information
• IIT Roorkee Alumni Association in North America
• ThinkTank, the official forum of IIT Roorkee