Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Established	1961
Type	Education and research institution
Director	R. K. Shevgaonkar
Undergraduates	2900
Postgraduates	2700
Location	New Delhi, Delhi, India
Campus	Urban
Acronym	IITD
Website	www.iitd.ac.in

The Indian Institute Of Technology Delhi (Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान दिल्ली ) (located at Hauz Khas) (formerly College of Engineering and Technology Delhi), commonly known as IIT Delhi or IITD, is a college of engineering in Delhi, India. It forms a part of the league along with other IITs in India: the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Roorkee, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar.

History

The concept of the IITs was first introduced in a report in the year 1945 by Sh. N. M. Sircar, then member of Education on Vicerory’s Executive Council. Following his recommendations, the first Indian Institute of Technology was established in the year 1950 in Kharagpur. In his report, Shri Sircar had suggested that such institutes should also be started in different parts of the country. The Government having accepted these recommendations of the Sircar Committee decided to establish more Institutes of Technology with the assistance of friendly countries who were prepared to help. The first offer of help came from USSR who agreed to collaborate in the establishment of an Institute through UNESCO at Bombay (now Mumbai). This was followed by the Institutes of Technology at Madras (now Chennai), Kanpur and Delhi with collaborations with West Germany, USA and UK respectively. Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati was established in 1995 and the University of Roorkee was converted into an IIT in 2001.

The Government of India negotiated with the British Government for collaboration in setting up an Institute of Technology at Delhi. The British Government agreed in principle to such a collaboration, but were inclined initially to start in a modest way. It was therefore agreed that a College of Engineering & Technology should be established at Delhi with their assistance. A trust called the Delhi Engineering College Trust was established with the help of the UK Government and the Federation of British Industries in London. Later H. R. H. Prince Philips, Duke of Edinburgh, during his visit to India, laid the foundation stone of the college at Hauz Khas on January 28, 1959.

The College of Engineering & Technology was registered as a Society on 14^th June, 1960, under the Societies Registration Act No. XXI of 1860 (Registration No.S1663 of 1960-61). The first admissions were made in 1961. The students were asked to report at the College on 16^th August, 1961, and the College was formally inaugurated on 17^th of August, 1961, by Prof. Humayun Kabir, Minister of Scientific Research & Cultural Affairs. The College was affiliated to the University of Delhi.

The College of Engineering & Technology established in 1961 was declared an institution of National Importance under the “Institute of Technology (Amendment) Act 1963” and was renamed “Indian Institute of Technology Delhi”. It was then accorded the status of a University with powers to decide its own academic policy, to conduct its own examinations, and to award its own degrees.

According to Section 4 of the Act, each of the Institutes shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and shall, by its name, sue and be sued. The body corporate constituting each of the Institutes, shall consist of a Chairman, a Director and other members of the Board for the time being of the Institute. IIT Delhi is an autonomous statutory organisation functioning in terms of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 amended vide the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 1963, and the Statutes framed thereunder. Responsibility for the general superintendence, direction and control of the affairs of the Institute is vested in the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors functions through its Standing Committees - Finance Committee, Building & Works Committee and such other adhoc committees which are constituted by it from time to time to consider specific issues. The control and general regulation for the maintenance of standards of instruction, education and examination in the Institute vests in the Senate. The Senate is responsible for formulation of the academic policies and to design curricula, the courses of studies and the system of examination. The Senate functions through its Standing Boards/ Committees and Sub-committees that may be constituted by it to look into the specific matters arising from time to time.

Campus

IIT Delhi is located in Hauz Khas, South Delhi. The campus of 320 acres (130 ha) is surrounded by the beautiful Hauz Khas area and monuments such as the Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple. The campus is also close to other educational institutions such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, National Institute of Fashion Technology and Indian Statistical Institute.

Multi-Storey Building (MS) facing the front lawns

The inside of the campus resembles a city, with gardens, lawns, residential complexes and wide roads. The campus has its own water supply and backup electricity supply along with shopping complexes to cater to the daily needs of residents.

A garden in IIT Delhi

The IIT-D campus is divided into four zones:

• Student Residential Zone
• Faculty and Staff Residential Zone
• Student Recreational Area, that includes the Student Activity Center (SAC), football stadium, cricket ground, basketball courts, hockey field, lawn tennis courts.
• Academic Zone that includes department offices, lecture theaters, libraries and workshops.

The student residential zone is divided into two main sectors—one for men's hostels and another for women's hostels.

Hostels

There are 12 hostels (ten for boys and two for girls). There are also apartments for married students. All the hostels are named after mountain ranges in India - Karakoram, Aravali, Himadri, Jwalamukhi, Kailash, Kumaon, Nilgiri, Satpura, Girnar, Shivalik, Vindhyachal and Zanskar, of which Himadri and Kailash are for girls. The residential apartments are named after ancient Indian universities - Taxila and Nalanda. Girnar House has the largest number of residents in 2011 with more than 700 students^{[citation needed]}. Each Hostel has its distinct culture of sports and cultural activities. Hostels compete in inter hostel events to bring home various trophies which include RCA and GC, which are the highest awards for cultural and sports accomplishments over a year by a particular hostel. RCA was claimed by Jwalamukhi in year 2010 and Kumaon in 2011. Academic year ends with an annual function of hostels known as 'House day' in which the passing out batch and the freshers give various cultural performances and awards are distributed for outstanding contribution to various hostel activities.

Boy's Hostel in IIT Delhi

Student Activity Center

The Student Activity Center or SAC is a part of the Student Recreation Zone in IIT Delhi. The SAC is for the extracurricular activities of the students. The SAC consists of a gymnasium, swimming pool, pool and billiards rooms, squash courts, table tennis rooms, a badminton court, a music room, a fine arts room, a robotics room and a committee room used to organize quizzing and debating events. The SAC also has an Open Air Theater where concerts are hosted. Students can use the radio broadcasting facility (HAM) in the SAC although its use has declined over the years. There is a lot of politics played in the events which are held throughout the year.

Student Bodies

There are a number of student bodies in IIT Delhi, each having its set of own responsibilities. The highest student body in IIT Delhi is the Student Affairs Council (SAC). All the other student boards are included under the SAC, as listed below:

• Board for Recreational and Creative Activities (BRCA)
• Board for Sports Activities (BSA)
• Board for Student Publications (BSP)
• Board for Student Welfare (BSW)
• Board for Hostel Management (BHM)

The BRCA consists of 9 clubs: the English Debating and Literary Club (EDLC), the Hindi Samiti (HS), the Dance and Dramatics Club (DnD), the Music Club, the Photography and Hobbies Society (PAHS), the Indoor Sports Club (ISC), the Film Series Committee (FSC), the Fine Arts Club (FAC) and the Quizzing Club (QC). Each club has a hostel representative working under the aegis of the hostel cultural secretary. The BRCA has the responsibility of organizing the annual cultural festival of IIT Delhi, called Rendezvous.

The other student council is the Academic Interaction Council (AIC) which deals with the academic and co-curricular activities of the students. The annual technical festival of IIT Delhi, Tryst is organized by the AIC.

Departments and Centers

IIT Delhi has 13 departments, 11 multi-disciplinary centers, and two schools of excellence. Together they offer around 700 courses every semester.

Departments

IIT Delhi has 13 departments. Each department has its own administration structure with the Head of the Department (HoD) at the top of it. The HoD heads the department for a period of three years after which a new head is appointed. Each department offers a program (at the undergraduate or post-graduate level), some departments such as Mechanical Engineering Department, offer two or more undergraduate level programs and some departments collaborate with each other to offer a joint program. An example of the latter is the M.Tech in Optical Communications program which is offered by the Department of Physics and Department of Electrical Engineering.

The DMS (Department of Management Studies), IIT Delhi came into existence in 1993 by an amendment to IIT(D) statutes. The department offers a two year full time MBA programme with focus on Management Systems, a two year full time MBA with focus on Telecommunication Systems Management and a three year part time MBA programme with focus on Technology Management.

The academic departments in IIT Delhi include the following:

• Applied Mechanics
• Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Computer Science and Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Department of Humanities and Social Science
• Management Studies
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics
• Textile Technology

IIT Delhi Building

Inter-disciplinary centers

An inter-disciplinary center differs from a department in the fact that it deals with an overlap of two or more disciplines of engineering or science. Similar to the departments the centers also offer programs though they offer these courses only at the post-graduation level. The following multi-disciplinary centers are located in IIT Delhi:

• Centre for Applied Research in Electronics (CARE)
• Centre for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS)
• Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME)
• Computer Services Centre (CSC)
• Centre for Energy Studies (CES)
• Educational Technology Services Centre (ETSC)
• Industrial Tribology, Machine Dynamics and Maintenance Engineering (ITMMEC)
• Instrument Design Development Centre (IDDC)
• Centre for Polymer Science and Engineering (CPSE)
• Centre for Rural Development and Technology (CRDT)
• National Resource Centre for Value Education in Engineering (NRCVEE)

Schools of excellence

A school of excellence is an externally funded (either from an alumnus or an organization) school functioning as a part of the institute. There are three such schools in IIT Delhi which are:

• Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management
• Amar Nath and Shashi Khosla School of Information Technology
• School of Biological Sciences

In 2010 the institute, for its excellence in co-operation projects with the corporate world in India, was chosen to be a part of the BBNM Group. Today, they are represented among the BBNM Member schools.

Academics

IIT Delhi, like all other Indian Institutes of Technology, is best known for its undergraduate program that include the Bachelor of Technology program, the Dual Degree Bachelor-cum-Master of Technology program and an Integrated Master of Technology Program. It also offers postgraduate level programs like Master of Technology, Master of Science, Master of Science (Research), Master of Business Administration, Master of Design (Industrial Design). Finally it also offers a Ph.D. program. The admission criteria for all these programs are different at the entry level.

The academic year is organized around the semester. There are two semesters in a year, however, there is an additional summer semester also running a few courses. IIT Delhi follows a 10 point CGPA scale, with a rigorous examination procedure consisting of two mid-semester examinations called Minor Examinations and an end-semester examination called the Major Examination. Apart from that, the courses may involve short projects, term-papers, self-study assignments, and regular surprise quizzes help to keep students on their toes.

Undergraduate programs

IIT Delhi offers a Bachelor of Technology in nine areas that include Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering (Power), Engineering Physics, Production and Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Textile Technology. The dual degree B.Tech-cum-M.Tech program is offered in Biochemical and Bio-Technology, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The integrated M.Tech program is only offered in Mathematics and Computing. The admission to these programs is done through Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) which is organized by all the seven Indian Institutes of Technology jointly. Lakhs of students take this exam every year with only few thousands of them actually crossing the bridge.

Rankings

University and college rankings
General – International
QS (World)	218
QS (Asian)	37
Engineering – India
India Today	2
Outlook India	2
Dataquest	3
Government colleges:
Mint	3

Internationally, IIT Delhi was ranked 218 in the QS World University Rankings, the highest ranking for an Indian institute, and 37 in the QS Asian University Rankings. In India, among engineering colleges, it ranked 2 by India Today, 2 by Outlook India, and 3 by Dataquest. In the Mint Government Colleges survey of 2009 it ranked 3.

Community service

National Service Scheme

• NSS IIT Delhi is an initiative taken up by IIT Delhi students to take part in service of humanity. It has a volunteer base of around 2000 students belonging to various disciplines and degrees of IIT Delhi. The student team works on a diverse range of social issues including voluntary blood donation, working for the education of the under-privileged, environmental issues, etc.

Notable alumni

• Rajat Gupta, first Indian-born CEO of a global corporation, served as managing director of McKinsey & Company
• Vinod Khosla, one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems, where he served as its first CEO & Chairman in the early 1980s
• Chetan Bhagat, Indian novelist
• Padmasree Warrior, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Cisco Systems, and the former CTO of Motorola, Inc
• Starting 2012, the class of 89 has come together to launch an innovation award program

Technical organizations

ACM Student Chapter, IIT Delhi

The Association for Computing Machinery is an educational and scientific society which works with the motto of "Advancing Computing as a Science and Profession". The IIT Delhi Student Chapter of the ACM was established in 2002 to address the needs of the IIT Delhi computing community. The IIT Delhi Chapter won the ACM Student Chapter Excellence Award for its Outstanding Activities during 2009-10.

In Popular Culture

Five Point Someone, a novel by Chetan Bhagat, is based on the protagonist's experiences in IIT Delhi.

See also

• List of universities in India
• Universities and colleges in India
• Education in India
• Distance Education Council
• University Grants Commission (India)
• Virtual Labs

External links

• Official Website