IISc has named eight recipients of its distinguished alumni awards and young alumni medals for 2026. Their work spans defence technology, lunar guidance, digital infrastructure and emerging research fields.
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has announced eight recipients of its Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Awards and Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals for 2026, recognising their contributions to science, technology, research and society.The five Distinguished Alumnus/ Alumna Award recipients are B S Manjunath, Dipankar Das Sarma, Jagannath Nayak, Maruthi R Akella and Rajat Moona. The Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals, awarded to researchers below 40 years of age, will go to Abhishek Sinha, Geethu Joseph and Himanshu Joshi.The awardees will be felicitated at a ceremony on December 19, 2026, at the JN Tata Auditorium on the IISc campus.
The institute said the awards recognise alumni who have made exceptional contributions to their respective fields and society.WHO ARE THE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARDEES?The five awardees represent diverse fields, including computer science, physics, defence technology, aerospace engineering and digital infrastructure. B S Manjunath, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is recognised for his work in computer vision and biological image informatics.
Dipankar Das Sarma, an eminent condensed matter physicist and materials chemist, is known for his contributions to materials science and synchrotron research.Jagannath Nayak, Director General of Missiles and Strategic Systems at DRDO, has played a key role in developing indigenous defence technologies, including fibre optic gyroscopes and laser systems. Maruthi R Akella, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, contributed guidance algorithms for Intuitive Machines' IM-1 lunar lander mission.
Rajat Moona, Director of IIT Gandhinagar, has helped shape India's digital infrastructure, including FASTag and electronic voting technologies.THREE YOUNG RESEARCHERS RECOGNISEDThe Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals will be awarded to Abhishek Sinha, Geethu Joseph and Himanshu Joshi for their research contributions.Sinha, a researcher at TIFR Mumbai, works in theoretical computer science and online learning. Joseph, an assistant professor at Delft University of Technology, specialises in intelligent sensing and autonomous systems.
Joshi, an assistant professor at IIT Hyderabad, works in computational biophysics and DNA nanotechnology.IISc Director Prof G Rangarajan said the awards celebrate alumni making a mark in their chosen fields and inspiring the institute's academic community.- Ends