Anna University (Tamil: அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழகம் ISO 15919:aṇṇā palkalaikkaḻakam) was a premier technical university in Tamil Nadu, India. Anna University was formed on September 4, 1978, as a unitary university that integrated four technical institutions in the city of Chennai (previously known as Madras), including the College of Engineering, Guindy, Alagappa College of Technology, Madras Institute of Technology and the School of Architecture and Planning. It was named after C. N. Annadurai.
Originally the university was named Perarignar Anna University of Technology (PAUT). In 1982 the current name of Anna University was adopted, removing the words "Perarignar" and "Technology". In December 2001, it was converted into an affiliating university, with many engineering colleges in the state of Tamil Nadu under its fold and also absorbing all the six government engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu as its constituent colleges. In all, it brought together about 250 engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu.
Between 2007 and 2010 it was split into six universities, namely, Anna University, Chennai, Anna University of Technology, Chennai, Anna University of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore, Anna University of Technology Tirunelveli and Anna University of Technology, Madurai.
Achievements
A Research Center for Nanosciences and Technology has been established. The government of Tamil Nadu has provided Indian Rupee symbol.svg 5 million as seed money to establish a clean room facility for developing semi-conductor devices at Crystal Growth Centre, which was established in 1990 by the UGC, New Delhi.
Anna University Chennai, in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has planned to design core engineering modules which are attractive in the job market.
Anna University Chennai has created a “Centre for Distance Education” to conduct MCA, MBA and M.Sc. computer related courses under Distance Education Mode. The IT companies namely TCS., Infosys, L&T and HCL have agreed to have a common aptitude test that would rank students on the skill sets required for the industry.
The university has proposed to establish a building in the proposed CT Park in the Guindy Campus and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC),and has agreed to provide infrastructure for its R&D training research centre. HP announced that the university has been awarded a "Technology for Teaching” Grant of US $70,000. This grant will be used to establish a Centre for M-learning with the support of HP to engage the faculty to promote the use of mobile and wireless technologies.
A Digital Knowledge Centre has been inaugurated in the University Library. The library was upgraded by establishing the infrastructure facilities for Digital Library with the assistance of the student of CEG -79 batches.
Anna University Chennai has conducted “Training the Trainer” programmes in collaboration with ELCOT and software companies such as Infosys, Wipro, CTS , TCS and Scope International under the scheme of “Enhancing the Employability of Students” from the Affiliated Colleges of Anna University Chennai. The objective of this programme was to train teachers to impart communication and soft skills to students more effectively. Nearly 250 teachers benefited from this programme.
Anna University Chennai introduced a medical insurance scheme to provide health care to the students and employees of the University. Nearly 6000 students and 1500 staff members have benefited through this scheme.
Anna University Chennai is establishing tie-ups with universities and organizations abroad in order to promote research in technical Education. More than 108 national and 69 international Memorandum of Understanding have been signed.
The UGC has conveyed its approval for the upgradate of the DRS programme in the department of CSE to the level of DSA (Phase I) for a duration of five years, with the financial assistance of Indian Rupee symbol.svg 7.5 million.
The USC has sanctioned Indian Rupee symbol.svg 2 million each to three DSA Departments of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering and four DRS Departments of Chemistry, Computer Science Engineering, Biotechnology and Geology for strengthening of infrastructure facilities.
The USC has conveyed its approval for the upgradation of DSA (Phase Ill) programme in the DEEE to the level of centre for Advanced studies (CAS) for duration of five years with the financial assistance of Indian Rupee symbol.svg 7.5 million for implementing the programme.
The Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions – Tamil, Anna University has been working in the area of language technology with emphasis on the following areas: • Linguistic Tools • Language Technology Products • Content Development • Research On Information And Knowledge Extraction.
