[3][4] It was founded as the College of Civil Engineering in 1847 during East India Company rule in India by James Thomason, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces in which Roorkee was located; its purpose was to train officers and surveyors employed in the construction of the Ganges Canal.

[7] The institution was founded in 1847 by James Thomason, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces (in which Roorkee then lay) to aid engineers and surveyors at work in the construction of the Ganges Canal.

By the mid-1880s, "the school has a hundred students, substantial buildings, and a reputation as an important center for the study of hydraulic engineering.

The ordinance was converted into an act by the Parliament to make IIT Roorkee an "Institution of National Importance".

[11] To mark the institute's 175th anniversary in 2022, the central government issued a Rs 175 coin as a gesture of commemoration.

[13] In addition to this, a new ten-acre campus has been established in Greater Noida, Knowledge Park II, which was inaugurated on 4 April 2011.

The Noida extension centre has 16 lecture rooms, software laboratories, faculty offices, a library and a computer center.

All IITs follow the same organization structure which has President of India as visitor at the top of the hierarchy.

[18] IIT Roorkee offers academic programmes in Engineering, Technology, Applied Sciences, and Management.

It runs eleven undergraduate (UG), one integrated dual degree, sixty one postgraduate (PG) and several doctoral programmes.

Before being converted into an IIT, the university selected students through the Roorkee Entrance Exam (REE) conducted on an All-India level.

[21] Admission to PG programmes in engineering and architecture is on the basis of GATE score and/or a written test and interview.

[22] Along with the engineering courses, the institute offers a two-year residential MBA program for which the admissions, starting from 2011, will be done on the basis of Common Admission Test, thus replacing Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) previously conducted by the IITs.

[46] IIT Roorkee's contribution towards the international community in science and technology include the courses and training programs run for developing countries.

Every year students from more than 50 countries join IIT Roorkee for full-time or short-term training courses.

[47] WRDM and the Department of Hydrology run special postgraduate programmes for students of the Afro Asian region.

[48] In 2008 IIT Roorkee tied up with Google for academic collaboration and curriculum development on emerging technologies and digital landscape led by Siddhartha Paul Tiwari.

Student groups on the campus include STIFKI (Student Teacher Interaction Forum for Knowledge and Innovation), IMG (Information Management Group), SDSLabs (Software Development Section Labs), GIL[54] (Group for Interactive Learning), EDC (Entrepreneurship Development Cell), HEC (Himalayan Explorers' Club), Literary Society (Active involvement in debating and quizzing), a local chapter of ShARE, Spic Macay in addition to student chapters of technical societies such as AAPG, SEG, SPG, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, IIT Roorkee Student Section), SAE, IEEE, IIChE (Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers), etc.

The Cultural Society (dramatics, music, choreography, cinematic, literary, IIT Heartbeat(Official inter-IIT magazine)[55]), audio, lights, Programme management, Kshitij, Geek Gazette(technical magazine of IIT Roorkee)[56] Watch Out (the Official News Magazine of IIT Roorkee)[57] takes all initiative related to cultural activities in the institute.

It aims at facilitating activities like photography, philately, astronomy, fine arts, gardening, web design, etc.

Their aim is to win the national competition by making the best robot and represent India in the corresponding international event.

The team also enjoys the rare feat of displaying their student-made race car at Auto Expo 2012.

After a successful international debut, the team has plans to develop a series hybrid vehicle and participate in the Formula Student UK 2013.

A cultural and classical program in which students from school and colleges from all over the country collaborated which was held from 13 to 16 December 2015.

[citation needed] IIT Roorkee has produced many alumni who played important roles in the technological development of India and made significant impact on corporate world.

According to IIT Roorkee's website, ten alumni have won Padma awards and 25 have been Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology awardees.