IISc distinguished alumnus/alumna awards for 2026 announced

A view of the Indian Institute of Science campus.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has announced that eight scientists and engineers have been selected for its distinguished alumnus/alumna awards and young alumnus/alumna medals for 2026.

It said the awards recognise alumni who have made exceptional contributions to their professions, society and the institute.

The nominations were assessed by a committee headed by IISc director Govindan Rangarajan.

“The distinguished alumnus/alumna awards and young alumnus/alumna medals are an opportunity to celebrate their journeys and achievements, and to recognise the many ways in which they continue to inspire our community,” Prof. Rangarajan said.

This year’s distinguished alumnus/alumna award recipients are B.S. Manjunath, Dipakar Das Sarma, Jagannath Nayak, Maruthi R. Akella and Rajat Moona.

Mr. Manjunath is a globally recognised computer scientist and academic leader, and the Frank Koenig Distinguished Chair in Signals and Systems and Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.

Mr. Sarma is an internationally renowned condensed matter physicist and materials chemist, currently the ANRF National Science Chair and Emeritus Professor at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, IISc.

Mr. Nayak is a distinguished defence scientist and Director-General of Missiles and Strategic Systems at DRDO.

Mr. Akella is a globally renowned aerospace scientist and control systems engineer, who currently holds the Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, U.S.

Mr. Moona is an internationally renowned computer scientist and technologist, and Director of IIT Gandhinagar.

The young alumnus/alumna Mmedals, given to researchers under the age of 40, will be conferred on Abhishek Sinha, Geethu Joseph and Himanshu Joshi.

Mr. Sinha is a leading theoretical computer scientist, currently a Reader at the School of Technology and Computer Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

Ms. Joseph is an internationally recognised researcher in sparse control, intelligent sensing and autonomous systems, and a tenured Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Mr. Joshi is an internationally recognised researcher in computational biophysics, multiscale molecular simulations, DNA nanotechnology, and an Assistant Professor of Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad.

The awardees will be honoured at a ceremony to be held on December 19, at the J.N. Tata Auditorium, IISc.