In 1963, the institute moved to its present location, on the Grand Trunk Road near Kalyanpur locality in Kanpur district.

[10] Under the guidance of economist John Kenneth Galbraith, IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to offer Computer science education.

Prof. Harry Huskey of the University of California, Berkeley, who preceded Kesavan, helped[10] with the computer activity at IIT-Kanpur.

[10] In 1971, the institute began an independent academic program in Computer Science and Engineering, leading to MTech and PhD degrees.

The academic area comprises the central library, departmental buildings, research centres, lecture hall complex, tutorial block and auditorium.

Additionally, married research scholars are allotted Single Bedroom Apartment (SBRA) facility on campus.

Its foundation was laid on 4 December 2012 on 5fiveacres of land allocated by Uttar Pradesh state government in the sector-62[13] of Noida city, which is less than an hour's journey from New Delhi and the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

In its initial run the service connects IIT Kanpur to Lucknow, but it is planned to later extend it to New Delhi.

Entry to the five-year MTech/MBA programs and Dual degree programme will be done based on the CPI of students instead of JEE rank.

[22] In order to reduce the number of student exams, IIT Kanpur has also abolished the earlier system of conducting two mid-term examinations.

Postgraduate courses in Engineering offer Master of Technology (MTech), MS (R) and PhD(Doctor of Philosophy) degrees.

Admissions to M. Des are made once a year through both Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and Common Entrance Exam for Design (CEED).

Until 2011, admissions to the M.B.A. program were accomplished through the Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET), held yearly, and followed by a Group Discussion/Personal Interview process.

The Abstracting and Indexing periodicals, Microform and CD-ROM databases, technical reports, Standards and thesis are in the library.

The New Core Labs (NCL) is 3-storey building with state of the art physics and chemistry laboratories for courses in the first year.

SIIC helps business Start-ups to develop[clarification needed] their ideas into commercially viable products.

[44] The Computer Centre hosts the IIT Kanpur website and provides personal web space for students and faculties.

It also provides a spam filtered email server and high speed fibre optic Internet to all the hostels and the academic areas.

It has Linux and windows laboratories equipped with dozens of high-end software like MATLAB, Autocad, Ansys, Abaqus etc.

[47] The mission of the ŚIKṢĀ Centre for Indian Knowledge System at IIT Kanpur is to promote, facilitate, and benefit from IKS-related studies, research, content development and outreach.

[48] In February 2024, IIT Kanpur built and evaluated the Hypervelocity Expansion Tunnel Test Facility, referred to as S2, in the Department of Aerospace Engineering's Hypersonic Experimental Aerodynamics Laboratory (HEAL).

Ballistic missile launches, scramjet flights, and extreme hypersonic conditions of atmospheric entry can all be replicated at the S2 facility.

[52] On November 26, 2024, IIT Kanpur introduced Anālakṣhya, a Meta-material Surface Cloaking System (MSCS) for multi-spectral camouflage capabilities.

This broadband Meta-material Microwave Absorber improves stealth capabilities against Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging by wave absorption across a wide spectrum.

Meta Tattva Systems is the licensee of the technology for industrial production and is currently under acquisition by the Indian Armed Forces.

[53][54] The students of IIT Kanpur made a nano satellite called Jugnu, which was given by president Pratibha Patil to ISRO for launch.

It also carries a GPS receiver to aid tracking, and is intended to demonstrate a microelectromechanical inertial measurement unit.

It is a group of students from varied disciplines who aim at designing and fabricating a Formula-style race car for international Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) events.

The Senate lays down the guidelines for the functions of the executives, their associated councils, the Gymkhana Festivals and other matters pertaining to the Student body at large.

All academic departments have Departmental Undergraduate and Post Graduate Committees consisting of members of the faculty and student nominees.