Education | The Indian Express
The College of Engineering Guindy (CEG) is the first engineering college in Tamil Nadu. CEG was established in 1794 as a School of Survey near Fort St. George, Chennai, with eight students, is Asia’s oldest technical institution. Founded by Michael Topping, it became the Civil Engineering School in 1858 and was recognised as a college under Madras University in 1859.
In 1861, it was renamed the College of Engineering with the addition of the Mechanical Engineering branch. Civil Engineering was especially sought after in those early years, and the first batch received the Diploma in Civil Engineering (DCE) in 1864.
In 1920, the college moved to its present 185-acre Guindy campus. Rao Bahadur G. Nagarathinam Ayyar became its first Indian Principal in 1925. The relocation supported the launch of new courses: Mechanical Engineering (1894), Electrical Engineering (1930), Telecommunication and Highways (1945), and Printing Technology (1982). Research programmes began in 1935, with Dr. K. L. Rao earning the first M.Sc. by Research. In 1940, Leela George and A. Lalitha became the first women engineers from Guindy. During World War II, accelerated courses with no vacations enabled three batches to graduate within two years (1942–43).
In 1946, Prof. K. Sukumaran earned the first PhD from the college. Two additional colleges at Ananthapur and Vishakhapatnam were opened in 1947 but functioned at Guindy initially. In 1957, intake increased from 175 to 275, and a Pre-Professional Course (later replaced by a five-year integrated course) was introduced.
Perarignar Anna University of Technology was formed in 1978, and Anna University was later established with four constituent colleges: CEG, Madras Institute of Technology, Alagappa College of Technology, and the School of Architecture and Planning, all functioning from the Guindy campus. P. Sivlingam was the first Vice Chancellor, followed by Dr. Kulandaisamy and Dr. M. Anandakrishnan. New UG and PG courses were introduced over time, and in 2001, all engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu were affiliated to Anna University.
Anna University is ranked first in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024 in the public university category. In the innovation, engineering, overall, university, and research categories, Anna University is also ranked among the top 20. It is ranked at 10th in innovation rankings, 13th place in the NIRF 2024 university rankings, 14th place in engineering, in the 17th position in the NIRF research category and 20th place in the NIRF overall category. It is ranked 34th in architecture and planning rankings.
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