Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance. Founded in 1959 with technical and financial assistance from the former government of West Germany, it was the third IIT established by the Government of India. IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for five years in a row (2016–2020) by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.