The Department of Civil Engineering has completed 150 years of Civil Engineering education in India during 1997. A pioneering Educational Institution in India and in the then British-Empire, it started as the Thomason College of Civil Engineering in 1847 and rose to become the first University of Technical Education in free India during 1949 after completing its centenary. It is hailed as one of the most outstanding Civil Engineering educational institutions in the world, with glorious past traditions, a strong and confident present and a very reassuring and dynamic future.

The Department offers a four year course leading to the Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. Although the Department has prided itself on the quality of its undergraduate programme, the Department also realized quite early the importance of keeping pace with the latest developments in engineering education. Postgraduate courses in Structural Engineering and Hydraulic Engineering were started way back in 1953 followed by postgraduate courses in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in 1954, courses in Highway Engineering and Public Health Engineering in 1957 and Advanced Survey and Photogrammetry in 1958. The Department has the unique privilege of offering a postgraduate courses in Building Science & technology and Computer Aided Design (CAD). Thus at present the Department offers one and a half year courses leading to the Master's Degree in eight different specializations. In addition, postgraduate courses are offered under diversification in three areas viz. Bridge Engineering, Rock Mechanics and Traffic Engineering. Each year about 60 students are admitted to the BE course and about 100 students to the ME courses. The Department has also provided education to a large number of sponsored foreign students through arrangements with the Government of India.

The research programmes of the Department are funded by various agencies such as UGC, CSIR, DST, MOST, ISRO, MHRD, AICTE etc. Research fellows working on these programmes are allowed to register for Ph.D. provided they fulfil the qualifications set for them. Teachers of

other engineering colleges also carry out research at the Department, leading to Ph.D. Degree under the Quality Improvement Programme. The Department offers Ph.D. Programmes in all the disciplines listed earlier. So far, over three hundred Ph.D. Degrees have been awarded and over ninetyfive Ph.D. Scholars are presently pursuing their research.

The faculty of the Department has always remained in the forefront by exploring new areas and providing guidance in the frontal areas. Recognizing the excellent work carried out by the faculty, UGC provided assistance to the Department through UGC-Special Assistance Programme and COSIST Programmes. MHRD and AICTE also provided assistance to the Department in specialized areas through ten centres namely, Centre of Environmental Engineering, Remote Sensing, Transportation Engineering, Wind Engineering, Fluvial Hydraulics, Appropriate Technology for Development of Hill Regions, Composite Materials, Off Shore Engineering, Appropriate Technology for Rural Development and Computer Aided Design.

At present the Department has 60 faculty members, who are helping in imparting education to 240 U.G. students, 300 P.G. students and Research scholars.