Anna University blossomed to its present status from a humble beginning in 1978, as the first ‘SurveySchool’ in the country to produce land surveyors. The Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS) was established in 1982 by Anna University with the funds provided by the Government of Tamil Nadu. IRS is also functioning as State Remote Sensing Application Center for Government of Tamil Nadu. Over the years, the infrastructural facilities have been gradually built-up using development grants mainly from Ministry of Human Resources Development, University Grants Commission, Federal Republic of Germany, Government of India and Department of Agriculture of Government of Tamil Nadu. At present, the Institute is rated as one of the best in the country in the areas of Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System and Large Scale Mapping. The Institute functions as an autonomous unit of Anna University, governed by an executive committee headed by the Vice-Chancellor and the recurring grants for maintenance are provided by the Government of Tamil Nadu. As an externally assisted project, Federal Republic of Germany has provided assistance worth 7 million DM towards equipment, exchange of staff and for conducting a 4-year engineering Under-Graduate program, B.E. (Geoinformatics), The Institute has about 2400 square metres of built-up space for various laboratories equipped with sophisticated instruments and machinery worth Rs.150 million.