In India, we celebrate Engineer’s Day on September 15, as a tribute to the greatest engineer India ever had, Bharat Ratna awardee, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. He made contributions to several significant technical projects in his career in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra, and Orissa. He also played a crucial role in the industrialization of Mysore, Developing education and economy as a statesman. He was also known as the father of Modern Mysore. Let us learn how this great engineer sailed the seas of glory.



Biography:
Sir M Visvesvaraya was born in 1861 on September 15th in Muddenahalli Village, Karnataka. Visvesvaraya started studying at the Wesleyan Mission High School in 1875. Later he joined the Central College from where he graduated with distinction in Bachelor of Arts (BA). He then moved to Pune to join the College of Science to study engineering, where he passed his engineering examination in 1884. He stood first in the university in civil engineering that year. As a norm for toppers those days he was directly recruited by government of Bombay 
As An Engineer:
  • Sir M Visvesvaraya was known for his contribution in harnessing water resources through building dams across the country. he was passionate about water conservation, he designed many water supply, drainage and irrigation systems across the country.

  • He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore. In 1912, when KRS Dam was built, it was then the largest dam in India. It supplied power to the Kolar Gold Fields, and led to the cultivation of sugarcane, giving rise to large sugar mills in the region.


  • As chief designer of the flood protection system, he designed drainage and water supply system for Hyderabad to prevent losses from floods caused due to cyclonic rains.
  • He invented automatic gates meant to regulate the flow of water in reservoirs. Similar systems were installed in the Tigra dam, near Gwalior, and Krishna Raja Sagar dam, near Mysore.
  • Introduced the block system of irrigation in the Deccan canals in 1899, a system of irrigation for the Bombay Presidency.
As Dewan Of Mysore:
In 1912 Maharajah of Mysore appointed him his Dewan. Before accepting the offer Visvesvaraya invited all his friends and family to dinner and made it clear he would only accept the prestigious offer if none of them are not going to ask him any favors. He did a great contribution to industrialization and education as Dewan.
Industrialization: When he was the Dewan many new industries came up. The sandal oil factor, the soap factory, the metals factory, and the chrome tanning factory were some of them. He is instrumental in starting the most important The Bhadravati iron and steel plant, one of the oldest steel plant in India.
Education: Visvesvaraya understood that education largely determines the health of an economy. During his period as Dewan of Mysore, the number of educational institutions in the state more than doubled. He introduced compulsory education, which is now a fundamental right in the Indian Constitution. Visvesvaraya was instrumental in the setting up of the University of Mysore in 1916, Government Engineering College (Renamed University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering), and an Agriculture school that later became the University of Agricultural Sciences. The Maharani’s College in Mysore became the first in the state to include degree courses for women.
Work Ethics and Discipline:
Sir M Visvesvaraya didn't accept government car instead he saved his own money and bought a car. He maintained separate stationery for his personal use, never used office stationery for personal use and vice versa. He used to get up early at 4:30 am every day and used to work from 7 am to 8 pm. Some people in Mysore used to set watches, seeing Sir Visvesvaraya going to the office.  
Sir M Visvesvaraya did his work with passion and dedication. One of his powerful quotes is "Remember! your work may be only to sweep a railway crossing, but it is your duty to keep it so clean that no other crossing in the world is as clean as yours".

The Government of India conferred 'Bharat Ratna' on this legend in the year 1955 for his outstanding contribution to society. He has also conferred the British Knighthood by king George 5, which put the honorific 'sir' before his name.