IIT Roorkee was renamed in 1854 as the Thomson College of Civil Engineering. It was elevated to a University status in 1948 by an Act of the state due to its potentiality and its need in independent India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru raised its standards making it the first Engineering University in independent India. It is located at Roorkee in Uttar Pradesh.

History of IIT Roorkee
The institution has its origins in a class started in 1845 to train local youth in engineering. It was officially established and renamed as the Thomson College of Civil Engineering in 1854 in honour of its founder, Sir James Thomson, lieutenant governor 1843-53.

Initially, the college had engineers class only for Europeans, upper subordinate class for Europeans and Indians and lower subordinate class for Indians only. The recruitment of the Engineering students was directly controlled by the Public Works Departments (PWD). Every student was guaranteed a post in the PWD/irrigation departments. Roorkee pass outs played a role in all the areas of engineering primarily civil, including maintenance of the Ganges canal, construction of dam and irrigation projects like Bhakra Nangal, the Rajasthan canal and so on.

On 21 September 2001, an ordinance issued by the Government of India declared it as the nation`s seventh Indian Institute of Technology, renaming it to the current name, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.

Courses offered at IIT Roorkee
The courses offered here are Architecture and Planning Hydrology, Bio-Sciences and Bio-Technology Humanities and Social Sciences, Chemical Engineering Institute of Paper Technology, Chemistry Management Studies, Civil Engineering Mathematics, Earth Sciences Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Metallurgical and Materials Engineering 3 Electrical Engineering Physics, Electronics and Computer Engineering Water Resource Development Training Centre.

Departments and centres of IIT Roorkee
IIT Roorkee has 18 academic departments covering engineering, applied sciences, humanities & social sciences, and management programs, 1 academic centre, 4 supporting service centres and a large number of research centres.

Departments of IIT Roorkee:
Engineering and Applied Sciences
* Architecture and Planning
* Biotechnology
* Chemical Engineering
* Civil Engineering
* Earthquake Engineering
* Earth Sciences
* Electrical Engineering
* Electronics and Computer Engineering
* Hydrology
* Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
* Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
* Paper Technology
* Water Resources Development and Management

Sciences
* Chemistry
* Mathematics
* Physics
* Management Studies
* Humanities and Social Sciences