IIT Bombay celebrates National Engineers’ Day 2026 by conferring
- IIT Bombay International Award for Excellence in Research in Engineering and Technology
- Dr. P.K. Patwardhan Technology Development Award 2025
- C1973 Faculty Award for Research Excellence
- Prof. S.L. Mehndiratta Award and
- Best Zonal Work Award
The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) celebrated National Engineers’ Day on its campus today, paying tribute to the legendary engineer, statesman and Bharat Ratna awardee, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary. Mr. S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro Limited, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.
The programme began with the garlanding of a portrait of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, followed by a solemn tribute to his remarkable contributions to engineering and nation-building.
The celebrations also witnessed the conferring of IIT Bombay’s most prestigious awards including International Award for Excellence in Research in Engineering and Technology; Dr. P.K. Patwardhan Technology Development Award 2025; C1973 Faculty Award for Research Excellence, Prof. S.L. Mehndiratta Award and the Best Zonal Work Award. These awards recognise outstanding contributions to research, technological innovation, engineering and institutional development.
The Dr. P.K. Patwardhan Technology Development Award 2025 was conferred on Prof. Arnab Dutta, Department of Chemistry and Prof. Vikram Vishal, Department of Earth Sciences, for their innovative research and development work on “Integrated CO Capture and Conversion Technology”. The award was presented on the recommendation of an award committee approved by the Director, IIT Bombay.
This year’s International Award for Excellence in Research in Engineering and Technology was conferred on Professor Joel Yang, Professor, Associate Head of Pillar for Research (Engineering Product Development), Director (Cleanroom), OPTICA Fellow, and Cheng Tsang Man Chair Professor, Singapore University of Technology and Design.
[Instituted by Mr. Sandeep Naik and Mr. Shantanu Rastogi, the award recognizes researchers for impactful contributions in engineering and technology over the past decade]
The recipients of the C1973 Faculty Awards for Research Excellence (FARE) are:
Category: Engineering Sciences and Design
- Prof. Eswar Rajasekaran, Civil Engineering
- Prof Srineash V K, Civil Engineering
- Prof. Sujoy Bhore, Computer Science and Engineering
- Prof. Swaprava Nath, Computer Science and Engineering
- Prof. Anupama Kowli, Electrical Engineering
- Prof. Soham Mujumdar, Mechanical Engineering
- Prof. Gurminder Singh, Mechanical Engineering
- Prof. Manish Pande, Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science
Category: Basic Sciences
- Prof. Chidambar Kulkarni, Chemistry
- Prof. Nitin Kumar, Physics
- Prof. Harsha Hutridurga, Mathematics
- Prof. Sakthi Saravanan Chinnasamy, Earth Science
Category: Applied Sciences, Humanities, Management
- Prof. Snehal S. Awate, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management
- Prof. Ramkumar Rajendran, Centre for Education Technology
[The C1973 Faculty Awards for Research Excellence aim to promote and recognise original research by young faculty members at IIT Bombay. The awards span Engineering Sciences and Design, Basic Sciences, Applied Sciences, Humanities and Management, reflecting the Institute’s diverse spectrum of academic disciplines. The initiative encourages faculty members to conduct and publish impactful research in reputed peer-reviewed journals, thereby strengthening IIT Bombay’s visibility as a leading research-driven institution.]
The Prof. S.L. Mehndiratta Award 2025 was conferred on Prof. Rahul Purwar, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, in recognition of his contributions to gene therapy, CAR-T cell therapy, cancer immunology and biomarker research.
[The award was instituted and funded by Prof. S.L. Mehndiratta, a distinguished former faculty member and former Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay.] Under the Best Zonal Work Award category, the Outstanding Young Engineer Award 2024–25 was conferred on Mr. Aditya B. Mundhe (Estate Office) and Mr. Mansingh B. Mehra (Electrical Maintenance Division) in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the development of campus infrastructure.
The programme concluded with a reaffirmation of IIT Bombay’s commitment to advancing excellence in engineering education, research and innovation, and to contributing to the nation’s technological progress in the spirit of National Engineers’ Day