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The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) is one of the Indian Institutes of Technology, set up in the (then) industrial city of Kanpur in 1960. Today, IIT Kanpur has grown into the top technological institute in India, primarily focused on research in engineering and science, and the teaching of undergraduates.
PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur History
IIT Kanpur was established by an act of Parliament in 1959. 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 Kanpur Indo-American Programme, where a consortium of 9 US universities helped set up the research laboratories and academic programmes. The first Director of the Institute was Dr. P K Kelkar (after whom the Central Library was renamed in 2003).
Laboratories and other facilities
The institute has a number of unique facilities, including the National Wind Tunnel Facility. Apart from a large number of engineering laboratories, IIT Kanpur also has its own airfield, for flight testing and gliding activities. Other large research centres include the Advanced Centre for Material Science, the Advanced Centre for Electronic Systems, and the Samtel Centre for Display Technology.
Students
The undergraduate students at IIT Kanpur are selected through the Joint Entrance Examination of the IITs, arguably one of the toughest selection processes anywhere in the world.
Students at IIT Kanpur reside in the hostels, most of which have their own bit of history and lore.
Alumni
- Umang Gupta (Entrepreneur, wrote first business plan for Oracle, first PC-implementation of SQL and currently CEO of Keynote Systems)
- Raj Singh (Venture Capitalist, former billionaire, funded Teligent among others, married to Nita, also an alumnus of IIT Kanpur)
- Ambuj Goyal (VP/GM of IBM's Lotus business)
Miscellaneous
It was rated the no. 1 engineering institute in India by India Today in 2004.
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