AFMD 2026 Honours Global Scientists in Chennai

Chennai: The 2nd International Conference on Advanced Functional Materials and Devices (AFMD 2026), organised by the Nanotechnology Research Centre at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, honoured leading scientists for their contributions to materials research.
The conference has attracted over 1,000 participants, including 160 delegates from 33 countries, reflecting its global significance.

At the inaugural session held at the Dr. T.P. Ganesan Auditorium, the Dr. T.R. Paarivendhar AFMD Awards were presented across categories.

Ramaswamy Murugavel received the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Srinivasan Natarajan was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Science.

In the international category, Naoki Wakiya won the Outstanding Researcher Award, and Yoshimasa Kawata received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Judy Z. Wu was named Outstanding Woman Scientist.
The Rising Star of Indian Science Award went to Kanishka Biswas, while S. Balakumar was recognised for work in biomaterials.

Chief guest R. Balamuralikrishnan stressed the need to translate research into scalable technologies, noting that only a small fraction reaches real-world application. Guest of Honour Krishnan Sadagopan called for stronger industry-academia collaboration.

Vice-Chancellor C. Muthamizhchelvan highlighted SRMIST’s focus on interdisciplinary research and global partnerships.

Chaired by M. Navaneethan, the conference is supported by agencies including Department of Science and Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Defence Research and Development Organisation.

The event, running till March 24, features plenary talks, technical sessions and industry interactions, focusing on sustainable and application-driven materials research.