Engineers Day 2021: M Visvesvaraya is also known as ‘VM Sir' for his numerous contributions to the area of engineering and his role as an educational pioneer.

In 1955, Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was awarded the Bharat Ratna for his contributions to engineering and education.

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was born on September 15, 1861, in the Karnataka village of Muddenahalli, is celebrating his 160th birthday this year.

Every year on September 15, India, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania commemorate the achievements of the great engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya by celebrating National Engineer's Day.

Engineers' Day is marked to honour their achievements and to urge them to continue improving and innovating.

During his career, Visvesvaraya oversaw several complicated projects and produced outstanding infrastructure achievements.

In 1903, he invented and constructed the ‘block system,' an irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune to boost the food supply and storage levels to their maximum levels.

This was also placed at the Tigra Dam in Gwalior and the Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) Dam in Mysuru, the latter of which at the time generated one of Asia's largest reservoirs.

From 1912 until 1919, he served as the 19th Diwan of Mysore.

As a commander of the British Indian Empire, he was knighted by King George V.

In 1917, he was also instrumental in the establishment of the Government Engineering College in Bangalore. In his honour, the college was later renamed the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE).