In 1963, a computer arrived at IIT Kanpur by military plane; years later, an unconventional experiment helped Computer Science take root in India

In the early 1960s, computers were still unfamiliar to most people in India. Yet in 1963, one of the country's newly established IITs acquired a machine that would play a role in the development of Computer Science education.An IBM 1620 arrived in Kanpur by aircraft in July that year and was taken to IIT Kanpur, reportedly on a bullock cart. The episode is now part of the institute's early history and offers a glimpse of how computing began to enter Indian higher education.When an early computer reached IIT KanpurThe IBM 1620 was installed at IIT Kanpur at a time when computing facilities were rare in Indian academic institutions.

According to the institute's historical records, it was the first computer installed at IIT Kanpur and became an important resource for teaching and research.Computing in those days was very different from what students experience now.Programmes were prepared using punched cards. Students submitted decks of cards for processing and waited for the results.

A small mistake could mean correcting the relevant cards and running the programme again.The machine was not simply a piece of equipment for calculations. It gave faculty an opportunity to introduce students to programming and to explore a field that had not yet become an established part of engineering education.The course that introduced programmingIn 1964, Professor V.

Rajaraman began teaching TA 306, described in IIT Kanpur's records as the institute's first course in computer programming.The decision to introduce programming to undergraduate students was significant for the time. Computer-related courses appeared at IIT Kanpur soon after the arrival of the IBM 1620, giving students an opportunity to work with a technology that was still relatively new.There was little indication then that Computer Science would eventually become one of India's most competitive areas of study.When Computer Science became a degree programmeThe next major development came with the proposal to create a dedicated BTech programme in Computer Science.Rajaraman was involved in developing the programme, which was eventually introduced in 1978.

Establishing a new undergraduate programme required changes within the institute. According to IIT Kanpur's historical accounts, seats were reallocated from other departments to accommodate Computer Science.Student interest quickly became apparent.The programme began attracting students with some of the highest JEE ranks. By 1980, the last student admitted reportedly had an All India Rank of 40.For a subject that was still relatively new, the demand was striking.

It also reflected a growing recognition among students of the opportunities emerging in computing.Rajeev Motwani and the early Computer Science studentsOne of the students associated with IIT Kanpur's early Computer Science programme was Rajeev Motwani.Motwani later completed his doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, and became a professor at Stanford University.

He went on to make important contributions to theoretical computer science and became known for mentoring students and young entrepreneurs.Among those he mentored were Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who later founded Google.Motwani's career was one example of the reach that graduates of India's early Computer Science programmes could eventually have in global research and technology.How computing took root at IIT KanpurThe Computer Science department at IIT Kanpur was formally established later, but its beginnings can be traced to the IBM 1620, the early programming courses and the faculty who worked to establish computing as an academic discipline.The context is easy to overlook today.

Computer Science is now one of the most popular choices among engineering students, while artificial intelligence, software development and data science have become major areas of study and employment.In the 1960s and 1970s, none of that was certain.Students were learning programming on punched cards and working with machines that were vastly less powerful than even basic computers today.

Faculty members were building courses and programmes around a technology whose role in India's future was still taking shape.The IBM 1620's arrival at IIT Kanpur in 1963 was one early step in that process. Over the following decades, computing education expanded across Indian institutions, producing generations of engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs who would contribute to the country's growing technology sector.Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available historical information and records from the sources cited.

TOI Education has not independently verified every historical account or anecdote mentioned in these records.Get the latest Education News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.