Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are autonomous public institutions of national importance for higher education in engineering, science and technology. Starting with IIT Kharagpur in 1951, there are 23 such Institutes of excellence all over India today, and IIT Palakkad belongs to this prestigious group. Celebrated as a major granary of Kerala, Palakkad is the gateway to the State from the North in the form of the nearly 40-kilometre break in the Western Ghats, called the Palakkad Gap. The place is known for its rich traditions, great historical events and personalities connected with it, and its sylvan surroundings, especially the Silent Valley rain forests and the famed palmyra trees. Bachelors programs (B.Tech) in five Engineering disciplines – Civil, Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical and Mechanical are the crux of the Institute. M.Sc programs in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics also feature. Research programs in Engineering, the Sciences, the Humanities and Social Sciences and in interdisciplinary areas like Biological Science and Engineering, and Environmental Science and Sustainable Engineering leading up to the award of M.S. or Ph.D. degrees, are offered, besides. There are also M.Tech programs in Geotechnical Engineering, Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, Power Electronics and Power Systems and three interdisciplinary M.Tech programs in Computing and Mathematics, System-on-Chip Design and Data Science. Application oriented teaching-learning processes, where mini projects and non-perfunctory assignments are part of every course are part of the student experience at IIT Palakkad. The Institute follows a Credit Based Curriculum which encourages cross-disciplinary enquiries and the option to choose electives across disciplinary boundaries. The atmosphere conducive to study and all-round personal development, and the quality of facilities and services made available, earn student appreciation and approval across the board.
