The oldest engineering institution in the city, College of Engineering Guindy, is all set to have its story told.
Students of the college and alumni have come together to bring out, ‘CEG, A Journey through Time,’ a book documenting the 220 years of the institution’s history, its alumni and interesting events.
“Despite being a historic place, there is little documentation available on the college. Many students here do not really know that they are trustees to such a rich heritage,” said Sibi Adhithya, who is authoring the book along with M.V. Madhuvanti, both final-year students of the college.
The book will have five chapters that will look at how the college that started as a survey school with eight students in 1794 at Fort St. George, shifted across several campuses including Kalas Mahal in Chepauk before moving to its current premises on what is today the Anna University campus, in 1920.
Another chapter will look at the historical architecture of the building, the students said.
“What is of most interest to us is how an institution that was predominantly British opened up to Indians,” said Sibi, adding that the book starts with stories about why the institute was founded.
“We got in touch with a descendant of John Goldingham, one of the early heads of the college through a genealogy website. He gave us several insights into the background of the founders.”
The book, said the authors, will be a treasure trove of interesting trivia about the college. “During the course of our research, we realised the college followed a military style of schooling until 1920. Also, the first female engineering students entered the college in the 1940s,” said Sibi.
Interviews with and write-ups on famous alumni of the college including Krishnamachari Srikanth, Madhan Karky and Verghese Kurien are part of the book.
“With just about 200 pages, we want the book to have crisp details mainly to educate students and people in the city about the institution,” said Sibi. The book will be published by the university in March.
