The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Motto: “Effort yields success”
The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras commonly known as IITM, was founded in 1959 with technical and financial assistance from the government of the former West Germany. It was the third Indian Institute of Technology to come into existence. It is one of the foremost institutes in technological education, basic and applied research in India.
IIT Madras is a residential institute that occupies a 2.5 sq.km area in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Most of the campus is a protected forest, as it is a part of the Guindy National Park. It is home to chital (spotted deer), black buck, and other wildlife. There is also a lake within the campus which attracts these animals.
The campus has 18 hostels, of which three are exclusively for women. Dining facilities are provided in two centralized halls. The self-contained campus includes two schools, three temples, three bank branches (SBI, ICICI, Canara Bank), a hospital, shopping centres, food shops, a gym, a swimming pool, cricket, football, hockey and badminton stadiums. Internet is available in the academic zone and the faculty and staff residential zone. Internet is available in the hostel zone from 2:00 pm till midnight and from 5:00 am to 8:00 am.
Academic Programs at IITM
The Institute has sixteen academic departments, nearly 100 laboratories and some advanced research centres in various disciplines of engineering and pure sciences. There are nearly 550 faculty members, 9,000 students and 1,250 administrative and supporting staff. Evaluation is done using the Cumulative Grade Point Average or CGPA model. IITM follows the semester pattern and each semester provides for a minimum of seventy instructional days. The Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR) is responsible for Industrial research projects. Numerous conferences, symposia and workshops are held annually, often attended by world renowned scholars.
IITM offers a wide range of courses under the graduate, post graduate and doctoral levels. Of these the graduate programme is most sought after. Graduate degrees are offered in the field of Aerospace, Biotech, Chemical, Civil, Computer science, Electrical, ECE (Electrical and computer Engineering), Physics, Metallurgy, Mechanical and Mining.
Admission to the B.Tech and Dual Degree (BTech + M.Tech) programme is done through the JEE. Admission to the five-year integrated Master of Arts (MA) programme is through the Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination (HSEE), an IIT Madras specific exam. Admission to the M.Tech and M.Sc. in engineering programmes is through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). Admission for the two-year M.Sc. programme and other BSc programmes is through the Joint Admission Test to M.Sc (JAM). MBA candidates are accepted through the Common Admission Test (CAT).
Extra-curricular activities
Shaastra is the annual technical festival at IITM. It is typically held in the second week of January. Cover design events, programming, simulations, quizzes, applied engineering, robotics, junk-yard wars are some of the events in the festival. Saarang is the annual social and cultural festival at IIT Madras. It is a five-day-long event held towards the end of January every year. It used to be named “Mardi Gras” but was renamed as Saarang in the 1990s. There are department specific festivals too.
Rankings vs other universities
IITM is ranked 322 in the World University Rankings. It is ranked 17th in the Brics Rankings and rank 53 in the Asian University Rankings.
Program-wise placement data 2013-2014
The placements at IITM are a much awaited event and the results in the 2013-14 placement season
prove their point.
