# Indian Institutes of Technology

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are tertiary educational institutes established by the Government of India to offer undergraduate, integrated postgraduate and postgraduate degrees and the Doctor of Philosophy in over 25 different engineering, technology and business/management disciplines.

## Quotes

Executive Vice-President of the UN Foundation said:
* Fifty years ago, the UNESCO helped to create the IITs as a means of providing superior education to Indians and spurring developments in the country. Today, IIT has helped India become a world leader in science and technology — proving that when we work together, we achieve remarkable progress.
** Kathy Bushkin
* For most of their first fifty years, these IITs were one of the greatest bargains America ever had. (p. 106).
** Thomas L. Friedman The World Is Flat (2005), (p. 106)
* Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolical of the changes that are coming to India.
** Jawaharlal Nehru, [Kharagpur http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/institute/history.php IIT at the first convocation address at IIT]

## CBS 60 Minutes

* Lesley Stahl of CBS on 60 Minutes
   * "Put Harvard, MIT and Princeton together and you begin to get an idea of the status of IITs in India."
* N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys on 60 Minutes:
   * "My son wanted to study computer science. But to study at the IITs he had to be among the top 200 in the country. So he chose Cornell."
* Vinod Khosla, venture capitalist on 60 Minutes:
   * "When I graduated from IIT Delhi and went to CMU for my master's, I thought I cruised all the way through Carnegie Mellon because it was so easy, compared to the education I had gotten at IIT Delhi." (Vinod received a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon and is co-founder of Sun Microsystems).

## Bill Gates

Bill Gates, the co-founder and chaiman of Microsoft, in his speech at India Institute of Technology 50th Anniversary Celebration:
   * IIT and Microsoft do have a lot in common, an optimism about the future, a belief that fundamental science will lead to breakthroughs that will let us solve some of the toughest problems that mankind faces, a belief that we can provide better tools than ever before and that we've really just scratched the surface.
   * And it's hard to think of anything like IIT anywhere in the world. It is a very unique institution.
In Salon Magazine
   * Per capita, IIT has produced more millionaires than any other undergraduate institution.
* The IITs became islands of excellence by not allowing the general debasement of the Indian system to lower their exacting standards. You couldn't bribe your way to get into an IIT...Candidates are accepted only if they pass a grueling entrance exam. The government does not interfere with the curriculum, and the workload is demanding...Arguably, it is harder to get into an IIT than into Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
** The Wall Street Journal, on 16 April 2003.

## Bill Gates

Bill Gates, the co-founder and chaiman of Microsoft, in his speech at India Institute of Technology 50th Anniversary Celebration:
   * IIT and Microsoft do have a lot in common, an optimism about the future, a belief that fundamental science will lead to breakthroughs that will let us solve some of the toughest problems that mankind faces, a belief that we can provide better tools than ever before and that we've really just scratched the surface.
   * And it's hard to think of anything like IIT anywhere in the world. It is a very unique institution.
In Salon Magazine
   * Per capita, IIT has produced more millionaires than any other undergraduate institution.
* The IITs became islands of excellence by not allowing the general debasement of the Indian system to lower their exacting standards. You couldn't bribe your way to get into an IIT...Candidates are accepted only if they pass a grueling entrance exam. The government does not interfere with the curriculum, and the workload is demanding...Arguably, it is harder to get into an IIT than into Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
** The Wall Street Journal, on 16 April 2003.

## Bill Gates

Bill Gates, the co-founder and chaiman of Microsoft, in his speech at India Institute of Technology 50th Anniversary Celebration:
   * IIT and Microsoft do have a lot in common, an optimism about the future, a belief that fundamental science will lead to breakthroughs that will let us solve some of the toughest problems that mankind faces, a belief that we can provide better tools than ever before and that we've really just scratched the surface.
   * And it's hard to think of anything like IIT anywhere in the world. It is a very unique institution.
In Salon Magazine
   * Per capita, IIT has produced more millionaires than any other undergraduate institution.
* The IITs became islands of excellence by not allowing the general debasement of the Indian system to lower their exacting standards. You couldn't bribe your way to get into an IIT...Candidates are accepted only if they pass a grueling entrance exam. The government does not interfere with the curriculum, and the workload is demanding...Arguably, it is harder to get into an IIT than into Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
** The Wall Street Journal, on 16 April 2003.

## References

* ↑ "Book lauds IIT, India's Intellectual Treasures". News article in The Indian Express North American Edition, on 19th December 2003. Copy of the article.
* 1 2 Video about IITs on CBS 60 Minutes. URL accessed on 10 April 2006.
* ↑ Remarks by Bill Gates. URL accessed 16 April 2006.
* ↑ Remarks by Bill Gates. URL accessed 16 April 2006.
* ↑ Remarks by Bill Gates. URL accessed 16 April 2006.

## External links

* Indian Institute of Technology (Brand IIT)