In the beginning the Universe was created. For a few billion years nothing happened. Nothing besides the cataclysmic explosion resulting in a hot dense fireball expanding light years into nothingness and ultimately condensing to form the stars, planets and Starbucks outlets. Sometime in between came the Thomason College of Civil Engineering. We believe nothing speaks as much for a department as it being the sole reason for its institute’s conception. For some reason which we’re sure no one has the faintest idea why, students of this department call it Royal Civil, which is widely regarded as needless nomenclature.

The department of Civil engineering, IIT Roorkee, being the oldest and largest in the country, has produced some of the finest engineers over the years accredited with having played a significant role in various civil engineering projects in India – The Ganga Canal, The Bhakra Nengal Dam, the Indira Gandhi
canal, the construction of Chandigarh, to name a few. Over the years, the department has produced several chairmen of Indian Railways, CPWD, Airport Authority of India, Delhi metro, Rail Corporation and entrepreneurial geniuses such as JP Gaur (JP Associates) and Mr. Rahul Gupta (Rays experts).

Civil engineering can be divided into various sub disciplines like structural engineering, environmental engineering and transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, water resources engineering, waste water engineering, construction surveying etc. Over the course of four years, equal emphasis is given to each of these sub disciplines, and a basic introduction is offered to the less important ones.

The timetable is slightly on the hectic side but with a tad bit of judgement, students manage to effectively juggle their social life and academics.

The faculty of the dept conducts high quality research in diverse fields ranging from building science and technology, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering to hydraulics and environmental engineering. The professors are easily approachable and welcoming to undergrad students willing to undertake research projects.

The students of the department have to undergo a mandatory 6 week long internship after the completion of their third year. The students have the option of doing an industry based internship to gain firsthand knowledge in the construction industry, or pursuing a research internship through DAAD, MITACS, SURA at various universities and labs around the world.

The students of the department get placed in some of the most reputed construction companies in the nation - L&T, Shapoorji Pallunj, to name a few. However, placements are not limited to construction firms and students holding interests in other fields can opt for analytic jobs in companies such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Housing.com, ICICI Lombard, and Swiss Rc.