29 October 2025
Eight outstanding scientists and engineers have been selected to receive IISc’s Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Awards and Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals for the year 2025.
The awards recognise exceptional contributions made by IISc alumni/ae to their profession, society, and the Institute. The nominations received are evaluated by a committee chaired by the Director, IISc.
This year’s Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna awardees are B Dattaguru, Murthy Gudipati, Sharmila Mande, Suman Chakraborty, and V Muralidharan. The Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals, given to researchers under the age of 40, are conferred on Anjani Priyadarsini, Arpita Biswas, and Pranesh Padmanabhan.
The awardees will be honoured at a ceremony to be held on 20 December 2025, at the JN Tata Auditorium, IISc.
Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Awardees
B Dattaguru is one of India’s foremost experts on structural integrity, fracture mechanics, and aircraft structures. His work has contributed to the safety of missiles, satellite launch vehicles, and LCA components. He also developed key software systems for strategic organisations, and contributed significantly to damage assessment and fracture control procedures for India’s aerospace programmes. He completed his BE from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1962, and ME and PhD from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering in 1965 and 1973. He also served as the Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 1999 to 2003. His contributions have been widely recognised, and he was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2005.
Murthy Gudipati is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and one of the world’s foremost experts in laboratory astrophysics. His decades-long career has focused on understanding the origins of life on Earth and its possible existence elsewhere in the universe. His work has played an instrumental role in advancing NASA’s planetary missions and astrobiology programmes. He completed his PhD from the Department of Organic Chemistry in 1987, and has served as the Satish Dhawan Visiting Chair at IISc. He is also a founding member and is on the Board of Directors of the IISc Alumni Association of North America (IISc AANA).
Sharmila Mande is a pioneering computational biologist and bioinformatics leader, widely recognised as one of the first scientists in India to pioneer microbiome research. She and her team developed cutting-edge computational algorithms for analysing complex metagenomic data, which are now cited and used globally. She has led several national and international collaborations, and has played a key role in building up the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Research Group at TCS Research. She also plays an influential advisory role in several institutions, and has contributed to shaping India’s science policy and mentoring computational biologists. She completed her PhD from the Department of Physics in 1991.
Suman Chakraborty is a globally recognised researcher who has pioneered innovations that bridge fundamental fluid mechanics, computational modeling, and translational medicine – from low-cost nucleic acid tests for infectious diseases to non-invasive oral cancer screening tools, and maternal and child health assays. He passionately pursues innovation, interdisciplinary research, and societal impact, and is the youngest director of IIT Kharagpur. He completed his ME in 1999 and PhD in 2002 from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
V Muralidharan is the Founder and Managing Trustee of Sevalaya Charitable Trust, a non-profit organisation transforming rural lives through holistic development across education, health, skill development, and rural sustainability. Alongside his corporate career, he founded Sevalaya in 1988 to focus on public service. Sevalaya runs schools and community colleges as well as hospitals, health centres, and mobile medical units supporting underserved and tribal communities across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. He completed his BE from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1984.
Young Alumnus/Alumna Medallists
Anjani Priyadarsini is a leading expert in quantum technologies, computational mathematics, and theoretical physics, and currently works at Amazon Web Services (AWS) India. She has also been instrumental in advancing quantum technology adoption in India, engaging with central and state governments to develop strategic initiatives. She is a passionate advocate for open science, outreach, and mentorship. She completed her PhD from the Centre for High Energy Physics in 2017.
Arpita Biswas is an internationally recognised researcher bridging theoretical insights with real-world impact through the combined power of game theory and machine learning, at Rutgers University. She has developed novel algorithms to address socially impactful challenges spanning climate action, public health, and course enrollments. She received her ME and PhD from the Department of Computer Science and Automation in 2014 and 2020.
Pranesh Padmanabhan is an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Queensland, whose work focuses on advancing mechanistic understanding and treatment strategies for conditions such as Hepatitis C, COVID-19, and Alzheimer’s disease, by combining data-driven modeling with cutting-edge experimental biology. His work has led to pioneering models that connect molecular dynamics to clinical outcomes, helping reshape global understanding of disease mechanisms. He completed his PhD from the Department of Chemical Engineering in 2015.
“We are delighted to confer these awards on a diverse group of alumni who have made exceptional contributions to research and education,” says G Rangarajan, Director, IISc. “We are especially happy to support and recognise our young alumni who are blazing new trails in their fields.”
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