Every year on September 15, India celebrates Engineers' Day to commemorate M Visvesvaraya's birth anniversary and to recognize his contributions to science and technology. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, also known as M Visvesvaraya, is his full name. Engineer's Day is also observed on September 15 in Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

M Visvesvaraya was born in 1861 in a Telugu family in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka, about 60 kilometers from Bengaluru. Visvesvaraya attended the University of Madras after finishing his formal school education in his hometown. He later changed his mind and enrolled in the College of Science in Pune to pursue a diploma in civil engineering.

• M. Visvesvaraya was a master of flood management and irrigation techniques.
• M Visvesvaraya was honored for his contributions to irrigation techniques and flood control.
• He patented and installed a water floodgate irrigation system at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune.
• M Visvesvaraya was Diwan of Mysore, where he established the Bangalore Agricultural University.
• Visvesvaraya established the Government Engineering College in Karnataka in 1917, which is now known as the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering.
• M Visvesvaraya was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1955.