The National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, popularly known as KREC, is a premier autonomous university along the western shores of India. It was founded in July 1960, as a joint venture between the Government of Karnataka and the Government of India, originally under the name Karnataka Regional Engineering College, Surathkal (KREC).

Ranking of NIT, Surathkal

NITK Surathkal was ranked the 6th best institute in the country for engineering in 2002, and 8th best in 2006 by India Today (a popular weekly magazine ). In another ranking by NASSCOM, IDC and Dataquest Magazine[5]the college was ranked 3rd best for placements in India with an overall ranking of 11. The college is known for its good faculty and facilities for research

History

Karnataka Regional Engineering College began in 1960, through the efforts of U. Srinivas Mallya and V.S.Kudva. The foundation stone was laid on August 6, 1960. KREC began with three under-graduate courses in engineering: Mechanical, Electrical , and Civil, with affiliation to the University of Mysore. 1965 saw the beginning of undergraduate courses in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering.

In 1966, the college started its post-graduate courses with a course in Marine Structures and Industrial Structures, following it up with post-graduate courses in Industrial Electronics (1969), Heat Power (1971), Hydraulics and Water Resources (1971), Chemical Plant Design Engineering (1971) and Process Metallurgy (1972).

Further under-graduate engineering courses were added: Electronics and Communication (1971), Mining (1984), Computer Science (1986) and Information Technology (2000).

KREC came into the jurisdiction of Mangalore University when it was started in 1980. All the under-graduate courses were converted to four year terms (from five years earlier).

On June 26, 2002, KREC was renamed National Institute of Technology, Karnataka and awarded the status of a deemed university by the University Grants Commission, in a bid to provide increased autonomy in decision-making.

Departments in NIT, Surathkal
Physics, Chemistry, Humanities, Civil Engineering, Mining Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Applied Mechanics and Hydraulics, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Computer Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Mathematics and Computational Sciences
Information Technology, Office for Training and Placements, Central Library

Admissions in NIT-Surathkal

Postgraduate and undergraduate
The B Tech admissions are based on the AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Examination). The exam consists of three sections on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and is one of the most competitive examinations in the country, with lakhs of students competing for the privilege of a few hundred seats.

Undergraduate admissions are on reciprocal basis regionwise. 50% of the seats are reserved for students from Karnataka. The remaining 50% are distributed over other NITs on a reciprocal basis. This state-wise allocation of seats is unique to Regional Engineering Colleges, set up as successors to the renowned Indian Institutes of Technology. While the efficacy of such distribution based on region has been hotly debated, there is no doubt that as a measure to provide quality education to students from all over the country, the move has been successful. In addition, it provides the students an opportunity to interact with other students from all over the country, giving them a unique perspective of India along with technical education. It is utmost important to maintain a cosmopolitan atmosphere at such a centre of excellence.

Ten percent of the seats in the undergraduate class are reserved for NRI students under the hugely popular DASA scheme. The scheme had been implemented at the IIT's in the late 90's before being removed in 2002. Admissions are based on the percentages obtained by prospective students in their Grade 12 final examinations. It is unclear how students belonging to different curriculum are compared, but since a majority of the students apply from after having completed their studies in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus, the problem rarely arises.

Post Graduate students are admitted to the program through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) conducted by the Indian Institute of Technologies and the Indian Institute of Science. Post Graduate studies are offered in a variety of disciplines by various departments and students may specialize in fields of their choice. Graduate students are required to complete a minimum number of courses in addition to a thesis or dissertation that entails independent research under the guidance of faculty. Graduate and Doctoral students are also actively involved in teaching certain undergraduate courses

Hostels of NIT-Surathkal

The National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal is a residential engineering college; hence all attending students are required to enroll for hostel accommodation. Students from adjoining areas commute from home, however, with a permission from the institution. Separate hostels are provided for women's accommodation.

There are 9 hostel blocks in all - 7 for under-graduate boys, 1 for post-graduates and 1 for girls. Construction of a new mega hostel block is underway and is expected to be completed by October 2009. There are a total of about one thousand four hundred (1400) undergraduate students, three hundred and ten (310) postgraduate students and two hundred (200) women students. Hostel life forms the basis of social life at NITK, with parties, sports activities and other events taking place continuously, in parallel with academic rigour. Seniors are offered single room accommodation while juniors, sophomores and freshmen are required to live with roommates.

The hostels are equipped with dining halls for the students, however these operate only at specific times of the day. The eight dining halls provide basic Indian cuisine, seven of them catering to the vegetarian needs of the populace and one that serves non-vegetarian dinner.

The hostels have been connected to the college network using optic fibre cables and 1 Gbit/s backbone connections