Among this year 2026's 113 Padma Shri recipients in the Science and Engineering category are two researchers from Indian Institutes of Technology recognized for work related to semiconductors and microelectronics: Prof. Juzer M. Vasi of IIT Bombay and Prof. Kamakoti Veezhinathan of IIT Madras.
Prof. Juzer M. Vasi, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Bombay, received the award for his lifetime contribution to science and engineering, particularly in semiconductors and microelectronics. He earned a B.Tech from IIT Bombay in 1969 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University in 1973. His research interests include reliability of solar modules, deployment of solar PV in India and globally, nanocrystal-based solar cells, and nanoelectronics.
Vasi’s career at IIT Bombay spans several decades. He served as Lecturer and Assistant Professor at IIT Delhi from 1974 to 1981, joined IIT Bombay as Assistant Professor in 1981, became Professor in 1983, headed the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1992 to 1994, served as Deputy Director from 2006 to 2009, and has been Professor Emeritus since 2017 after serving as Emeritus Fellow from 2015 to 2017.
Responses on LinkedIn to the IIT Bombay announcement included comments from Omkaram Nalamasu, CTO and Senior VP at Applied Materials; Mukesh Khare, IBM General Manager and Vice President; and Prof. V Ramgopal Rao, Group VC at BITS Pilani.
Prof. Kamakoti Veezhinathan, Director of IIT Madras since 2022 and faculty member there since 2001, also received the Padma Shri. He was instrumental in developing the indigenously designed SHAKTI range of processors. His research focuses on software aspects of VLSI design, cluster computing, high-performance computing, algorithms, data structures, and computational geometry. He has contributed to initiatives in computer architecture, information security, and VLSI design, and has led nationally significant programmes while mentoring researchers.
The awards come at a time of increased public and government attention on semiconductors. Here is the video snippets of the awarding ceremony for both recipients in Delhi.
