The beginning of the alumni association of REC/NIT Calicut in Kochi can be traced to the philanthropist initiative, when an alumnus of 1972 batch suffered a serious ailment, the batchmates. under the leadership of Prof. Jussay (who was a gem of a person and embodiment of every student’s wishlist for a teacher), came together and made arrangements for her treatment and recuperation.

This led to more casual meetings and the alumni coming together to support each other, Sudesh Jain (1972 batch) and MR Devadas (1969 batch), A M Sadick (1969 batch), Francis K Paul (1972 batch), K. M. Michael, Chilprakash and Gopakumar among them. They were meeting regularly in Bharat Tourist Home (BTH – BTH owner Govinda Rao’s two sons were REC Calicut alumni and Mohan Prasad(1967 batch) was his son-in-law) and the individual’s homes discussing about the idea of an alumni association.

The first formal meeting to organise the Alumni chapter happened in Matha Tourist Home on 12th July 1984. 70 odd Alumni along with Prof. K M Bahauddin, Prof P M Jussay, Prof Babu T Jose, Mr. K Balasubramanian, Mr. Mohanachandran and the then principal of REC Calicut, Dr. Unnikrishna Pillai attended the meeting. The Cochin Chapter of the CREC Alumni Association was formally inaugurated at Sadick’s house over a dinner meeting (note the point!) on 15th August 1984, on the Independence Day, with many people in attendance. Sadick was the Treasurer and Chilprakash joint Treasurer.

It was decided that RECCAA day was to be celebrated on 26th January. Family get-togethers were to be held on 1st May and 15th August, to keep the alumni a close-knit group. This practice is continuing till date.

Prof. Jussay proposed a housing project in 1985to allow salaried alumni to own a residential plot on convenient payment terms. It was a daring venture due to various obstacles and paucity of funds, however it turned out to be a huge success, with each alumnus involved playing an important role in the acquisition and conversion of 7 acres of land to realise the ‘RECCAA Enclave’ residential area at Padamugal in Kakkanad with 55 residential plots. This inspired a series of housing projects and formation of Cochin RECCAA Centre in 1989, RECCAA Housing Society in 1990 etc. The dedicated and selfless work of Prof. P. M. Jussay, Dr. Babu T. Jose, A. M. Sadick, M. R. Devadas, Joseph Philip, Avarachen A. G., K. M. Michael, Mathew M. Mathew, Laligro and K. P. Alexander saw the acquisition of about 14 acres of land in Kakkanad. The land, now known as in RECCAA Valley, Kakkanad, which is home of renowned RECCAA Club, was acquired as part of this initiative.

The Cochin chapter conducted two Industrial Exhibitions in 1992 and 1995 These were the only major industrial exhibitions in Kerala State until recently. The team speer headed by Chandramohan and Mohan Prasad worked for one and half years to make RECCAATEX a reality. The fair was organised in 1992 at Marine Drive grounds. Sathish Babu, Vijayaraj, Francis K Paul, John K Paul, Babu T Jose, Joseph Philip. Avarachan, Mathew M Mathew, Alex, Laligro, Chilprakash were all involved. The industrial fair was considered respectable enough for Tata Motors (Telco) to launch their first Indian made car in Kerala in 1992. The profit from these exhibitions were used to purchase an office space for the chapter at Ernakulam North.

RECCAA conducted two rating exercises of engineering colleges in Kerala to assist the engineering aspirants. A detailed questionnaire, the best of its kind ever formulated in India, which was commended by Dr. A. Sridharan, former Chairman AICTE Regional Committee was circulated among the engineering colleges. Alumnus from all districts of the state enthusiastically supported the survey activity. Credibility of that survey was remarkably high, so that many institutions used the ratings in their prospectus and press briefings. This exercise helped the Cochin chapter to spread its alumni activity over the entire state.

Prof. Jussay wanted to revive the RECCAA activities and realize the long-cherished goal of setting up a world class RECCAA Club in the RECCAA Valley. It was decided to merge alumni led organizations – RECCAA Centre, Housing Society, RECCAA Chapter etc. and form one common entity. Thus, RECCAA Charitable Society (RCS) was formed in 2007. The brightest feather in the cap of RCS is the highly rated RECCAA club with an investment of over 500 million Rupees in Kakkanad to provide a space for alumni to communicate and to network. Charitable work is a major priority of the RCS while a long-term goal is to utilize the experience and expertise of REC/NTT Calicut alumni for the greater good.

The Cochin chapter of RECCAA/NITCAA was the main contributor to the Silver Jubilee Endowment Trust of the parent chapter.

The Cochin chapter had the honour of conducting the World NITCA Meet (WNM) in August 2011, the Golden Jubilee year of the National Institute of Technology, which established yearly awards – one in the name of Prof. K. M. Bahauddin, the architect of REC Calicut, and the second in the name of Prof. P. M. Jussay, the founder of RECCAA Cochin chapter – for the Best Professor as well as Best Outgoing Student from the Engineering Colleges in Kerala. In the same year, the practice of awarding scholarships to needy students of government engineering colleges of the state was instituted. A few years later, there was an award instituted for the Best Research Paper (PhD) in Engineering from Kerala. These continue till date, with the remarkable contribution of individuals and batches of alumni.