Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) (Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान रुड़की)
is located in Roorkee, a township in Uttarakhand, India. Instituted as Thomason College of Civil Engineering in year 1847 by the British, it was rechristened as University of Roorkee in year 1949.^[1] Prior to independence, it awarded the degrees of the University of Calcutta and the Allahabad University, to which it was successively affiliated, followed by its own diplomas. It was restructured in 1948 as the University of Roorkee, as the first engineering university of modern India. IIT Roorkee is placed at 63 in the QS.com Asian University Rankings 2009 [1].

The oldest institute of technical education in Asia and the erstwhile British Empire to award its own degrees (as the College of Engineering, Guindy was not a degree granting institution since its inception in 1794), IIT Roorkee celebrated its sesquicentennial (150th year) anniversary in October 1996. On 21 September 2001, an ordinance issued by the Government of India declared it as the nation's seventh Indian Institute of Technology. The ordinance was converted into an act by the Parliament to make IIT Roorkee an "Institution of National Importance".^[2]

IIT Roorkee offers a wide range of academic programmes. It runs eleven Under Graduate, five Integrated Dual Degree, three Integrated M.Tech., three integrated M.Sc., sixty one Post Graduate and several Doctoral Programmes.^[3]

Along with the engineering courses, IIT Roorkee also offers a 2 year residential MBA program. The Department of Management Studies also offers Ph.D. in various disciplines. Admission for these courses are through JMET, a centralized entrance examination for the MBA programs at various IITs.

IIT Roorkee is also running an MCA programme. Typically, the MCA is a 3 year fulltime degree course consisting of six semesters. It covers various aspects of computing, accounting, finance, programming, design and managing networks and databases. Admission for this course is through JAM (joint admission test), a centralized examination for two-year MSc programmes at all IITs, Three-year MCA and M Tech in Applied Geology/Applied Geophysics at IIT Roorkee, MSc-PhD Dual Degree in Physics at IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur.

Prior to being converted into an IIT, the University selected students through an entrance exam, REE (Roorkee Entrance Exam) conducted on an All-India level. The selectivity of REE was close to 2%.^{[citation needed]} The Institute continues the legacy by admitting students to B.Tech. and B.Arch. courses through the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted at various centers all over India. The Institute is a member of LAOTSE, an international network of leading universities in Europe and Asia exchanging students and senior scholars.

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