Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Motto	"Knowledge is Power"
Established	1994
Type	Education and Research Institute
Director	Gautam Barua
Academic staff	260
Undergraduates	2000 (approx)
Postgraduates	1000 (approx)
Location	Guwahati, Assam, India
Campus	Suburban,703.95 acres (2.8 km2)
Colors	Red (Power), Blue (Peace), Yellow (Perseverance)
Website	www.iitg.ac.in

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati  is an autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institute of higher education established by the Government of India, located in Guwahati, in the state of Assam in India. It is the sixth Indian Institute of Technology established in India.

IITG is officially recognised as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. The institute consistently ranks amongst the top engineering colleges in the academic ranking of Indian colleges by various engineering education surveys like India Today, Dataquest etc.

History

IIT Guwahati campus

Guesthouse of the IIT from hill top

The history of IIT Guwahati traces its roots to the 1985 Assam Accord signed between the All Assam Students Union and the Govt. of India, which mentions the general improvement in education facilities in Assam and specifically the setting up of an IIT.

Lecture Hall Complex

IITG was established in 1994 by an act of parliament and its academic programme commenced in 1995.

IITG admitted its first batch of students into its Bachelor of Technology programme in 1995. The selection process was the same as that of all IITs, i.e. through the Joint Entrance Examination. In 1998, the first batch of students were accepted into the Master of Technology program through the GATE.

The campus of IITG is situated on the northern banks of Brahmaputra and abuts the North Guwahati town of Amingaon.

Campus and geography

The campus is on a 700 acres (2.8 km²) plot of land located on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra around 20 km from the heart of the city. It has the majestic Brahmaputra on one side, and hills and vast open spaces on others.

Academics

Academic Complex on the bank of River Brahmaputra

New Academic complex of IIT Guwahati

Currently IIT Guwahati houses the following departments :

• Department of Biotechnology
• Department of Chemical Engineering
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Civil Engineering
• Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Department of Design
• Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering(recently merged to EEE Department)
• Department of Humanities|Humanities and Social Sciences
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Physics
• Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

The aforementioned departments of the Institute offer B. Tech., B. Des., M. Des., M. Tech., Ph.D. , M.A (Development Studies) and M.Sc. programmes.

IIT Guwahati was also the first IIT to introduce design as one of the disciplines at Undergraduate and Ph.D level. The Department of Design (DoD) at the institute awards the degree of B.Des. (Bachelor of Design),M.Des (Master of Design) & PhD on completion of the undergraduate and postgraduate academic programs respectively.

Presently there are about 2300 students on rolls, 215 faculty members and 300 support staff.

Research centers

IITG is currently home to six Centres of Research.

• Centre for Educational Technology
• Centre for Nanotechnology
• Centre for Mass Media Communication
• Central Instruments Facility
• Centre for Energy
• Centre for the Environment

Student life and hostels

IIT Guwahati Hostels

IIT Guwahati is a fully residential campus. The Gymhkana Club promotes the objectives of fostering extra-curricular and co-curricular activities, welfare of students and their stay on the campus.

All the students live in hostels located in the campus. The hostels are named after various rivers and tributaries of North-East India, namely Manas, Dihing, Kapili, Siang, Kameng, Barak, Subansiri (Girl's Hostel), Umiam, Dibang and Brahmaputra. Apart from these, there is a Married Scholars Hostel for married students doing their post graduation.

Annual festivals

Every year the students and administration of IIT Guwahati together organize and number of festivals and competitions

Techniche

Techniche is an annual techno-management festival of IIT Guwahati. Techniche is held in September every year over a period of three days. Techniche provides students from schools and colleges across India, a platform to interact with many experts in various subject areas via its lecture series. It has been attended by P. Chidambaram, Kiran Bedi, H. C. Verma, Mike Fincke, John C. Mather and others. Techniche ’10 was held from September 2 to September 5.

Alcheringa

Alcheringa is the annual cultural festival of IIT G, usually held during the first week of February. The festival is the largest cultural festival of the northeastern region of India. People from all over the country attend this festival, and take part in various events. The highlights of the festival are the “Pro-Nites” where popular artists and bands like Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, KK, Bands like Eluveitie, Swaratma, Parikrama and Raghu Dixit Project perform to huge audiences. The 2010 edition of Alcheringa which took place between Feb 4th to Feb 7th was called the “Xtreme Edition” as the Swiss folk metal band, Eluveitie, performed in India for the first time.

Techniche and Alcheringa are the conducted on a very large scale every year, and are also growing in terms of participation and sponsors every year.

Other festivals

• Manthan, the annual inter-hostel cultural festival
• Alfaaz, the annual literary festival
• Kriti, the annual inter-hostel technical festival
• Spardha, the annual inter-hostel sports fest
• Performing Arts Festival (PAF), the annual performing arts festival

Besides these, Inter-IIT Sports Meet is held annually every winter among the Indian Institutes of Technology. The Meet is hosted by each of the IITs in turn. In the year 2006, IIT Guwahati hosted the 42nd Inter-IIT Sports Meet for the first time.