Know IIT Kanpur's journey, from a canteen to India's swanky biotech centre

New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) was set up in the industrial city of Kanpur in 1960.From its very inception, IIT Kanpur has been striving to develop itself into an institution of excellence in education and research in consonance with the contemporary and future needs of India. Under the guidance of eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith, IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to start Computer Science education. The Institute has a number of facilities, including the National Wind Tunnel Facility, one of the country's best Bio-technology center, the Advanced Center for Electronic systems, and the Samtel Center for Display Technology among others. The institute is also going to get a state of the art nanotechnology research centre soon. Apart from this, IIT Kanpur also has its own airfield, for flight testing and gliding activities.The institute was started in December 1959 in a room in the canteen building of the Harcourt Butler Technological Institute at Agricultural Gardens in Kanpur. In 1963, the institute moved to its present location, on the Grand Trunk Road near the village of Kalyanpur in Kanpur district.During the first ten years of its existence, IIT Kanpur benefited from the Kanpur Indo-American Programme (KIAP), where a consortium of nine US universities (namely M.I.T, University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Carnegie Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Case Institute of Technology and Purdue University) helped set up the research laboratories and academic programmes.The first Director of the Institute was P. K. Kelkar (after whom the Central Library was renamed in 2002).Under the guidance of economist John Kenneth Galbraith, IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to offer Computer Science education.The earliest computer courses were started at IIT Kanpur in August 1963 on an IBM 1620 system. The initiative for computer education came from the Electrical Engineering department, then under the chairmanship of Prof. H.K. Kesavan, who was concurrently the chairman of Electrical Engineering and head of the Computer Centre. Prof. Harry Huskey of the University of California, Berkeley, who preceded Kesavan, was instrumental in providing the impetus for the computer activity at IIT-Kanpur. In 1971, the institute initiated an independent academic program in Computer Science and Engineering, leading to M.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees.In 1972 the KIAP program ended, in part because of tensions due to the U.S. support of Pakistan. Government funding was also reduced as a reaction to the sentiment that the IIT's were contributing to the brain drain. Since then IIT Kanpur has increased collaboration with industry and has achieved a reasonable level of stability. Internationally, IIT Kanpur has been ranked 295th in the QS World University Rankings of 2013, and 51st in the QS Asian University Rankings of 2013. In India rankings, among engineering colleges, it was ranked second by India Today in 2013 and fourth by Outlook India in 2012. In the Mint Government Colleges survey of 2009 it ranked second. Following are the Centers and programs of the Institute: Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy Center for Education Research and Development Center for Environmental Research Center for Industrial Research and Development Center for IT and Software Research Center for Integrated Science Center for Nuclear Engineering Center for Research and Innovation Center for Technological Innovation Center for Urban Research and Planning Center for Ocean Engineering Center for Laser Technology