The College of Engineering, Trivandrum, commonly shortened to CET, is an engineering college in the Indian state of Kerala, situated in Thiruvananthapuram. Founded in 1939 by the Travancore monarch Chithira Thirunal, it is the state's oldest technical institution. It currently offers undergraduate, graduate and research programs in eight branches of engineering and has been affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University since 2015, prior to which it was part of the University of Kerala. History On 3 July 1939, the college formally came into existence. The institution owes its foundation to the vision of the Maharajah of Travancore, Sree Chitra Tirunal Balarama Varma. It initially started functioning in the former office and bungalow of the Chief Engineer (which is now the office of the Postmaster General (PMG)). Maj. T. H. Mathewman was appointed as the first principal of the college with Vastuvidya Kushala Sri, Balakrishna Rao and Prof. D. L. Deshpande on the faculty. The college had an intake of 21 students each for the Degree courses in Civil, Mechanical and Electrical branches of Engineering, under the then Travancore University. With the establishment of the Directorate of Technical Education in the late 1950s, the college administration came under the direct control of the government. In 1960, the college was shifted to its present 101 hectare or 250 acre campus at Kulathoor. The undergraduate and postgraduate courses are accredited by AICTE. The college has a library, a central computing facility and a planetarium. General information The college was established on 3 July 1939 as a part of the erstwhile University of Travancore, Kerala, India. The college campus is situated in Kulathoor near Sreekariyam, 13 km from Thiruvananthapuram Central (railway station). Extending over 250 acres (1000,000 m2) of land, it has one of the most spacious campuses in the country. The Masterplan of the campus, and the magnificent main building and other structures in the campus were designed by Prof. Joseph. Chandra Alexander, who was the first Chief Architect and Chief Town planner of the Govt. of Kerala. He was also instrumental in starting the first Architectural education centre of the state in this college. The main building resembles a spanner from the air, around which are spread the departmental buildings, library block, laboratories, workshops, hostels, a planetarium, staff quarters, canteens and stadiums. The campus is one of the greenest in the country, and has won accolades from environmentalists and nature