IIT Bombay, one of the six IITs set up by an Act of Parliament, was established in 1958, at Powai, a northern suburb of Mumbai.
The institute has the following broad objectives:
- To provide the best possible educational facilities for training students for careers in technology and science
- To provide a creative atmosphere in which higher studies and research thrive both amongst the students and the faculty
- To organise short intensive courses, conferences and seminars on current technological developments
- To provide research and development consultancy which will promote contact with and be of service to industries and to government and civic organisations
- To organise quality improvement programmes for faculty members from various engineering colleges
- To provide leadership in curriculum design and development
The courses offered are made purposely broad. Thus, in the engineering curriculum, besides the professional courses, there is a strong emphasis on acquiring a thorough grounding in the basic sciences of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and a reasonable knowledge in subjects like Economics, English, Philosophy and Social Sciences.
Besides providing facilities for higher education, training and research in various fields of engineering and technology, the institute contributes to the industrial development and economic growth of the country by preparing a cadre of engineers and scientists, who provide both man power and support R&D work for industries.