IIT Kanpur

History

IIT Kanpur was established by an Act of Parliament in 1960 by the Government of India. 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 Kalyanpur locality in Kanpur district. The campus was designed by Achyut Kavinde in a modernist style.

During the first ten years of its existence, a consortium of nine US universities (namely MIT, UCB, 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 IIT Kanpur's research laboratories and academic programmes under the Kanpur Indo-American Programme (KIAP). 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 course was started at the institute 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, helped with the computer activity at IIT-Kanpur. In 1971, the institute began an independent academic program in Computer Science and Engineering, leading to MTech and PhD degrees.

In 1972 the KIAP program ended, in part because of political tensions between India and Pakistan (as the USA supported Pakistan). Government funding was also reduced as a reaction to the sentiment that the IIT's were contributing to the brain drain.

The institute's annual technical festival, Techkriti, was first started in 1995.

Department

Placement

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, has successfully concluded the Phase 1 of placement season 2022-23. The Phase 1 for the 2022-23 graduating batch started on December 1 and went on for fifteen days to conclude on 15th December 2022. Till the completion of the first phase, 1128 students have accepted job offers including 208 PPOs (pre-placement offers).

After a gap of two years, placements were conducted in hybrid mode this time. Approximately 250+ companies, including 35+ startups, participated in phase 1 campus hiring and offered 1200 jobs. More than 60 companies extended 208 PPOs which is 33% more as compared to last year's PPOs.

The Phase 1 saw 74 international offers indicating a jump of 57% as compared to last year. So far, the highest domestic package received is INR 1.9 Cr. In all, 33 offers above INR 1 Cr have been received from various international and national organisations.

Last year, the highest packages at the end of Phase 1 of placement season 2021-22, were USD 287,550 for international and Rs. 1.2 Cr for domestic.

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said, “The Placement season is a much-anticipated time of the year for the students and us, alike. We’re glad to have consistent trust and confidence extended to us by the recruiters in the recent past. As we continue to take leaps in enriching the R&D ecosystem of the institute, we’re witnessing good growth in job domains offered to our students as well. I congratulate the students who are placed in the Phase 1 and am quite hopeful that we’d witness the same enthusiasm in the second phase as well.”

A good number of core companies have shown interest in campus hiring this year. To date, 24% of the offers made at IIT Kanpur are from the core industries.

Prof. Raju Kumar Gupta, Chairman, Students’ Placement Office, IIT Kanpur, said, “We thank all the recruiters for their continued support and trust shown to the institute and students. The Phase 1 has surely bolstered the confidence of the students. We have seen a paradigm shift in PPOs this year with an increase of 33% than the previous year. An appreciable number of offers came from various core industries and startups too. We hope to continue this sprint for the remainder of the season as well.”

Based on the number of students hired, the top recruiters this season at IIT Kanpur are Rakuten Mobile, American Express, PwC, Intel, Microsoft India, Qualcomm, EXL, Oracle India Pvt Ltd, SAP Labs, CapitalOne, J. P Morgan & Chase, Reliance Industries Limited, Sprinklr, Axtria, Texas Instruments, Axis Bank, Eaton, Quadeye Securities, HSBC, Jaguar Land rover India Limited, Jio Platforms Limited, Walmart Global Tech India, Wells Fargo, Airbus Group India, ICICI Lombard GIC LTD, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Legato Health Technologies, among others.

The Phase 2 of campus placement 2022-23 season will begin from mid of January, 2023.

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Campus

IIT Kanpur offers a vibrant campus life. It is a safe and secure campus. Students will find the beautiful and peaceful campus a great place to live. When they wish to do something there are a lot of choices available to them. Students can pursue the passions they bring to the campus. Or they can take up new ones. There are many recreational facilities, hobby clubs, sports facilities and cultural societies on campus.

In the chosen activity, whether a student is a beginner or is at an advanced level the student will have company and will enjoy the bonding and camaraderie.

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