Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (abbreviated IIT Roorkee or IITR) is a public technical university located in Roorkee, Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, India, headed by Director Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi. It was formerly known as University of Roorkee (1949–2001) and Thomason College of Civil Engineering (1847–1949). Established in 1847 in British India by the then lieutenant governor, Sir James Thomason, it is the oldest technical institution in Asia.[a The main campus in Roorkee has an area of 365 acres (1,480,000 m2). IIT Roorkee has a separate campus of 25 acres (100,000 m2) in Saharanpur which offers courses in Polymer Science, Process Engineering, Paper Technology & Packaging Technology