National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli

National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli
Established	1964
Type	Public, Institute of National Importance
Director	Dr.Srinivasan Sundarrajan
Academic staff	246[1]
Students	3,457
Undergraduates	2,190[1]
Postgraduates	1,267[1]
Location	Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
Campus	800 acres (3.2 km2)[2]
Website	www.nitt.edu

The National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (NITT) , formerly the Regional Engineering College (REC), Tiruchirappalli, is a public engineering and technology university located 20 km near the city of Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, India. The institute was founded in 1964 to cater to the country's growing need for technological manpower.^[3] It is one of the 30 National Institutes of Technology in India and is recognized as an Institute of National Importance. About 3,400 students are enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the institute.^[1] NITT has consistently been ranked as one of the top engineering colleges in the country.^[4][5][6]

The institute is located on an 800-acre (3.2 km²)^[2] campus on the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli. Most students live in residential hostels on campus. There are more than 35 student groups that pursue activities and hobbies. The institute organises annual cultural and technical festivals that attract participants from all over the country and abroad.

History

The Regional Engineering College at Tiruchirappalli was founded in 1964 as a co-operative venture between the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1964 to cater to the country's need for manpower in technology. The college was given autonomy in financial and administrative matters to achieve rapid development. In 2003, the institution was granted Deemed University status with the approval of the UGC/AICTE and was renamed National Institute of Technology.^[3] The Chairman of the institute is Rajaram Nityananda. Dr.Srinivasan Sundarrajan has been Director of the institute since July 2011. The institute is undergoing accelerated growth through the World Bank-funded Technical Education Quality Improvement Program (TEQIP).^[3][7]

Academics

NITT offers undergraduate and graduate programs in disciplines spanning engineering, science, architecture and management. The institute has 16 departments^[8] with about 250 faculty members and more than 3,400 enrolled students.^[1] As of 2008, the annual intake for the B.Tech. program was 530, with a student-faculty ratio of 14:1.^[9]

Research in the institute is sponsored by major government agencies including Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST); in 2006–07, research grants from these agencies exceeded one crore Indian rupees ( 1,00,00,000; approx. US$200,000).^[10]

Placements

The training and placement department of the institute arranges for companies to conduct on-campus interviews to recruit students. Over 160 companies participate in the placement process every year. The highest compensation being $125,000(~56 lakh) per annum,Offered by Facebook. Companies that visit the campus include Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Michelin ,ITC, Cisco, Yahoo, ZS Associates, VMware, Directi, nVIDIA, Intel, Texas Instruments,ARM, Atmel, Analog Devices, Qualcomm, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Maruti Suzuki, Schlumberger and Public-sector undertaking companies such as ONGC, NTPC, BHEL, BPCL, HPCL and C-DOT.^[11]

Undergraduate programs

The institute awards B.Tech. degrees in nine engineering disciplines as well as the B.Arch. degree through its architecture program. Admission to these programs is through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). NITT follows the reservation policy declared by the Supreme Court of India, by which 27% of seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 15% for Scheduled Castes (SCs), and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes (STs). The institute also accepts foreign nationals through scholarships awarded by the Government of India, and non-resident Indians through an independent scheme known as Direct Admission for Students Abroad (DASA).^[12][13]

The B.Tech. program is a four-year program while the B.Arch. program is five years long. The first year of the B.Tech. program is common across all disciplines, during which students take basic courses in engineering, mathematics and professional communication.^[14]

Graduate programs

The institute offers graduate programs in 23 disciplines,^[1] including 21 programs in science and engineering, leading to a M.Sc. or M.Tech. degree respectively, as well as a program in computer applications (MCA) and management (MBA). Doctoral programs are offered in all disciplines.

The Department of Management Studies (DoMS) has been functioning since 1978.

Graduate admissions are through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) for the M.Tech. and M.Sc. programs, and through NIMCET for the MCA program.

Rankings

Outlook India ranked NIT Trichy as the 7th best engineering college in terms of placement and overall it was ranked 10th.^[5]In 2010, a survey by India Today and the Nielsen Company ranked NITT the 12th best engineering college in India.^[6] A similar study conducted by Education Times and GfK in 2009 placed the institute at 6th position,^[4] while Outlook India ranked it 15th in the same year.^[15] The Department of Architecture is ranked one of the best in India in the 2011 Outlook ranking for Architectural colleges in India ^[16]

Indian university rankings

	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
India Today – Best Engineering Colleges in India		12[6]	17[6]	12[6]	10[6]	13[6][17]
Education Times – Best Engineering Universities (All India)			6[4]
Outlook India – Top Engineering Colleges	10[5]		15[15]		12[18]
Dataquest – India's Best Technology Schools							8[19]

Campus

Former entrance to the NITT campus, now closed due to construction on NH 67

The NITT campus is situated near Thuvakudi, on the outskirts of Tiruchirappalli. The campus spans 800 acres (3.2 km²)^[2] and is the second largest educational campus in India ( After IIT Kharagpur)^[20]. The main entrance is located on the southern end of the campus, facing National Highway 67.

The administrative building with its clock tower

The administrative building (popularly referred to as the ad-block) with its iconic clock tower is one of the institute's landmarks. This building houses the administrative offices and also the offices of the director and deans. The eastern and western wings of this building are occupied by the physics and chemistry departments respectively.^[21][22]

Academic facilities

The institute's academic facilities are located in the southern half of the campus; these include the department buildings, laboratories and workshops, lecture halls, computer centres and the central library. Each department has its own library, in addition to the central library, which holds more than one lakh (100,000) resources including books, periodicals and journals in print and electronic format.^[23]

The Octagon is the institute's primary computer centre, with eight computer labs, printing facilities and a variety of engineering software for use by students. The Octagon also serves as a central hub for interconnecting the campus-wide LAN.^[24] The original facility, opened in 1990, was extended into a second building in 2006; there are plans to further expand the facility in view of the increase in student enrolment.^[25]

Athletic facilities

Most of the institute's athletic facilities are located in and around the sports centre. The centre includes indoor badminton courts and a fitness centre. Adjoining this building are a 25-metre (82 ft) swimming pool and an outdoor stadium with a 400-metre (1,300 ft) track, which is also used as a cricket field.^[26] Other facilities on campus include basketball courts, and indoor table tennis tables in the residential hostels.

Housing and other amenities

Residential facilities are provided on campus for students, faculty and staff of the institute. Most students live on campus in the residential hostels. In all, there are 17 boys and 3 girls hostels with a capacity of 3800 students. Four more hostels are under construction. Once completed they will be able to accommodate 4660 students.^[27] With the exception of the girls' hostel, all the others are located in the northern side of the campus. Meals are served by 2 mega messes and 2 government messes located in campus. There are two cafeterias on campus where food is available for purchase.

Other amenities on campus include a guest house, a modern hospital^[28] and pharmacy, a post office, a bank, 2 ATMs (State Bank of India) and two supermarkets.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli alumni

The institute's graduates hold (or have held) senior executive positions in such companies as Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Reliance Industries. Since 2007, the institute has annually presented Distinguished Alumni Awards to its notable and outstanding alumni.^[29]

Student life

NITT has over 35 student groups spanning a variety of interests, including cultural, social and professional groups, student publications and recreational groups. Undergraduate students participate in one of three national programmes in their first year: the National Cadet Corps (NCC), the National Sports Organisation (NSO) or the National Service Scheme (NSS).

Performing arts

The performing arts groups at NITT include the dance troupe, the music troupe and the thespians' society. These groups perform at institute events and have won accolades at contests across the country.^[30][31] The dance troupe combining vibrant colours with meaningful themes in their performances.^[31]

Amruthavarshini, the Carnatic music group of the college, organises classical music concerts in the institute. In 2007, the group organised Tyagaraja Aradhana in honour of the Carnatic musician Tyagaraja.^[32]

Annual events

Main articles: Festember and Pragyan

Three of the institute's official annual events – Festember, NITTFEST and Pragyan – are organised by the students themselves.^[33] These are also the largest and most-awaited events every year.

Festember is the annual national-level cultural festival of the institute. Held every year since 1975 during the month of September, this event encompasses music, dance and literary competitions, with thousands of participants from colleges all over the country vying for the trophy. The event has seen performances by Indian musicians including Karthik, Srinivas, Naresh Iyer, Kadri Gopalnath and Sivamani as well as bands like Indian Ocean.^[34][35] Festember derives its name from the phrase, "A Fest to Remember" and not from "A Fest in September" as is popularly believed due to its falling in the month of September every year. The 2011 edition is themed around the casino, Las Vegas style. NITTFEST is the intra-college version of Festember with many of the same events, but with the competition between departments of the institute.^[36]

Pragyan is the annual science and technology festival of the institute, usually held in the month of January or February. The festival features contests in programming, management, robotics and other fields of engineering.^[37] These contests – some of which are conducted online – attract participants from all over India and also from other countries. Pragyan has featured workshops by Adobe and Sun Microsystems as well as guest lecturers including Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Nobel prize-winning physicist John C. Mather and linguist Noam Chomsky.^[38][39]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "NITT at a Glance". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/about/ataglance/. Retrieved 2010-04-29. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} [1] Nitt.edu
3. ^ ^{a b c} "History of the Institute". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/about/. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Ranking of Indian Universities". Education Times. March 30, 2009. http://ms.timesofindia.com/ads/rankinguniversities/overallranking.html. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "Top Engineering Colleges". Outlook India. june 21, 2011. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?277249. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Best Engineering Colleges in India, 2010". India Today. 2010. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Photo/3308/3/best-engineering-colleges-in-india,-2010.html. 
7. ^ R. Krishnamoorthy (Nov 3, 2008). "TEQIP Phase II to create parity between NITs and IITs". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/edu/2008/11/03/stories/2008110350290700.htm. 
8. ^ "Academic Departments". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/academics/departments/. Retrieved 2010-04-29. 
9. ^ "NIT-Tiruchi will fill OBC quota this year". The Hindu. Apr 26, 2008. http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/26/stories/2008042654560500.htm. 
10. ^ "Sponsored Research". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/icsr/sr/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
11. ^ "Training and Placement". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/tp/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
12. ^ "B.Tech. Admission Procedure". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/academics/admissions/btech/. Retrieved 2010-04-29. 
13. ^ "B.Arch. Admission Procedure". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/academics/admissions/barch/. Retrieved 2010-04-29. 
14. ^ "First Year". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/academics/programmes/btech/year1/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
15. ^ ^{a b} "Top 75: Engineering Colleges". Outlook India. June 22, 2009. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?250245. 
16. ^ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?277252
17. ^ Kaif Mahmood (June 4, 2007). "The India Today-AC Nielsen-Org-Marg Survey of Colleges". India Today. http://www.indiatoday.com/itoday/20070604/cs-engineer.html. 
18. ^ "Top 50 Govt Engineering Colleges". Outlook India. June 11, 2007. http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070611&fname=APemchand+Palety&sid=4. 
19. ^ Bhaswati Chakravorty (May 21, 2005). "Dataquest-IDC-NASSCOM Survey: India's Best T-Schools". Dataquest. http://dqindia.ciol.com/content/top_stories/2005/105052101.asp. 
20. ^ http://www.ttg-sric.iitkgp.ernet.in/sric/iitkgp.php
21. ^ "Department of Physics". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/academics/departments/physics/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
22. ^ "Department of Chemistry". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/academics/departments/chemistry/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
23. ^ "Library". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/library/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
24. ^ "Computer Support Group". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/ComputerSupportGroup/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
25. ^ "Second annexe for NIT-T planned". The Hindu. June 6, 2008. http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/06/stories/2008060659260300.htm. 
26. ^ "Physical Education". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/sportscenter/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
27. ^ "Hostels". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/hostelsnmess/hostels/. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
28. ^ "Hospital". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/facilitiesnservices/hospital/. Retrieved 2011-08-07. 
29. ^ "Distinguished Alumni Award". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/icsr/alumni/. Retrieved 2010-04-30. 
30. ^ "Fine Arts". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/clubsnassocs/finearts/. Retrieved 2010-06-12. 
31. ^ ^{a b} Liffy Thomas (March 13, 2010). "High spirit ignites college dance competition". The Hindu. http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article243898.ece. 
32. ^ Syed Muthahar Saqaf (March 16, 2007). "Science with a touch of music". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/03/16/stories/2007031600280300.htm. 
33. ^ "Events". NITT. http://www.nitt.edu/home/students/events/. Retrieved 2010-06-12. 
34. ^ "Festember ’08, packed for the show". The Hindu. Sep 18, 2008. http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091850990200.htm. 
35. ^ "Confluence of art, culture and fun". The Hindu. Sep 22, 2009. http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/22/stories/2009092257940200.htm. 
36. ^ "Students engineer cultural, literary facets at NITTFEST'10 in Tiruchi". The Hindu. Mar 20, 2010. http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/20/stories/2010032062410200.htm. 
37. ^ "Pragyan 2010 - Events". NITT. http://www.pragyan.org/10/home/events/. Retrieved 2010-06-12. 
38. ^ R. Krishnamoorthy (Feb 2, 2009). "Pragyan promises more this year". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/edu/2009/02/02/stories/2009020250140400.htm. 
39. ^ R. Krishnamoorthy (February 8, 2010). "A melting pot of creative ideas". The Hindu. http://beta.thehindu.com/education/article102894.ece. 

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 10°45′47″N 78°49′05″E / 10.763°N 78.818°E / 10.763; 78.818