MIT diamond jubilee from January 9

[dwarakesh]

CHENNAI: When entrepreneur Chinnaswami Rajam started steel and power companies in the 1930s, he was disappointed that he had to hire foreign engineers to staff them. In 1949, the industrialist sold off two palatial bungalows to donate Rs. 5 lakh for establishing an institution in Madras that would produce the engineers a newly independent India needed so desperately.

Sixty years later, the Madras Institute of Technology is celebrating its diamond jubilee, with events to showcase the technical talent it has trained in accordance with Mr. Rajam's initial vision. The institute, now a department of Anna University, Chennai, is organising a techno-management festival, Asymptote 2009, from January 9 to 11. More than 4,500 students from 250 colleges are expected to take part.