National Institute of Technology Calicut

National Institute of Technology Calicut

ദേശീയ സാങ്കേതിക വിദ്യാപീഠം, കോഴിക്കോട്
Motto	Malayalam: തമസോമാ ജ്യോതിര്ഗമയ Sanskrit: तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय
Motto in English	From Darkness, Lead us unto Light
Type	Public
Established	1961
Chairman	Aruna Jayanthi
Director	Dr. Sivaji Chakravorti
Academic staff	205
Undergraduates	4200
Postgraduates	1100
Location	Kozhikode, Kerala, India 11°19′19″N 75°56′07″E / 11.321973°N 75.935386°E / 11.321973; 75.935386Coordinates: 11°19′19″N 75°56′07″E / 11.321973°N 75.935386°E / 11.321973; 75.935386
Campus	300 acres (1.2 km2), rural/semi-urban
Website	www.nitc.ac.in

National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC), formerly the Calicut Regional Engineering College (CREC), is a federally funded technical university and an institute of national importance governed by an act passed by the Parliament of India. The campus is situated near Chathamangalam, 22 kilometres (14 mi) north east of Kozhikode, on the Kozhikode–Mukkam Road. It was established in 1961 and was known as Calicut Regional Engineering College (CREC) until 2002. It is one of the National Institutes of Technology established by the Government of India for imparting high standard technical education to students from all over the country. The college is among the very few institutions in the country to host a supercomputer of its own, and amongst the pioneers in the country to have a dedicated nanotechnology department.

National Institute of Technology, Calicut was set up in 1961 as Regional Engineering College Calicut (CREC), the ninth of its kind and the first one to be established during the Third Five-Year Plan period. Until the formation of Calicut University in 1963, the institute was affiliated with Kerala University. It was largely due to the efforts of Pattom Thanu Pillai, then Chief Minister of Kerala, that the institute came into being. Prof. S. Rajaraman, first principal of Government Engineering College, Thrissur was appointed as the special officer in 1961 to organise the activities of the college until M. V. Kesava Rao took charge as the first principal of the college. The classes were initially held at the Government Polytechnic at West Hill, before it moved to its present campus in 1963. The college started with an annual intake of 125 students for the undergraduate courses, on a campus of 120 hectares (1.2 km²).