IIT - Kanpur

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) is one of the secent IITs, set up in the then-industrial city of Kanpur, India in 1960. The institute was started in December 1959 in a room in the Canteen Building of the Harcourt Butler Technological institute at Agricultural Gardens in Kanpur. In 1963, the institute moved to its present location, on the historic Grand Trunk Road near the village of Kalyanpur in Kanpur district. During the first ten years of its existence, IIT Kanpur benefited from the Indo-American Programme, where a consortium of 9 US universities among whom notable ones at MIT and University of California Berkeley, helped set up the research laboratories and academic programmes.

From its very inception, IIT Kanpus has been striving to develop itself into an institution of excellence in education and research in consonance with the contemporary and future needs of India. Under the guidance of eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith, IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to start Computer Science education. The Institute has a number of facilities, including the National Wind Tunnel Facility, one of the country’s best Bio-technology center, the Advanced Center for Electronic systems, and the Samtel Center for Display Technology among others. The institute is also going to get a state of the art nanotechnology research centre soon. Apart from this, IIT Kanpur also has its own airfield, for flight testing and gliding acitivities.

Students at IIT Kanpur reside in the hostels, or ‘halls of residence’, most of which have their own unique history and lore. There are eight hostels for boys and two for girls called GH and hall 6. The annual cultural festival is called Antaragni. It is held around the end of October every year.

The annual science and technology festival, Techkriti, is held at the end of February each year. The annual sports festival, Udghosh/IIT Kanpur Sportsmeet, is held around the end of November each year and Umand, the annual Film festival, is held in early January. They are amongst the most popular college events in North India.

Notable Alumni of the institute include names such as Ashoke Sen, N.R.Narayana Murthy, Umang Gupta, Ambuj Goyal, Satish Kaura, Umesh Mishra, Pradeep Sindhu, Dr.Ashok Jhunjhunwala and Dr.S.Sivaram.