The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : IIT's heritage centre opens today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 03, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

IIT's heritage centre opens today

R. Sujatha

It provides information on its origin and development

The famed Gajendra circle at IIT-Madras.

CHENNAI: As a premier institution in the heart of the city that remains rooted in an ethos that technology and nature go hand in hand, it is but natural for Indian Institute of Technology - Madras to set up a heritage centre in its campus.

Members who were instrumental in the success of the institution will be present at the inauguration to be held on Friday.

The heritage centre, a pioneering effort among the country's IITs, will provide information about the origin, establishment and development of the institution in the city. "We thought of it three years ago. We will be completing 50 years in 2009. It is just a beginning," says Ajit Kumar Kolar, professor in charge of the centre.

Display of panels

The centre will display 82 panels delineating the history of the institute, the idea for which was mooted during Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to Germany in 1956. The German leaders of State offered support to set up a technical institute in India on the lines of IIT. Kharagpur.

Despite stiff competition from Mysore State and Hyderabad State, Madras was chosen because the then Chief Minister Kamaraj granted 632 acres for the project on Elliots Beach Road (now Sardar Patel Road), which housed the Central Leather Research Institute and the engineering colleges.

The institute began with a two-room office in CLRI in July 1959. The first batch of students was chosen by interview and classes were held in A C Tech College from August. By 1960 two hostels and classrooms had come up on the IIT campus. President S. Radhakrishnan delivered the first convocation address in 1964.

Arcot Ramachandran as director (1967-73) laid the foundations for research. An industrial consultancy was set up. "Germany paid the money for American computer." IIT installed the fastest computer, recalls Dr. Kolar. Though most of the developments took place in the 60s and 70s the institute continues to maintain its German connection with students and faculty being trained in that country, he says.

Dr. Ramachandran, A.L. Mudaliar, former chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-M and R. Natarajan, first registrar of the institute, will attend the function.

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