Alumnus Awards

Dr. Cherukuri Murali Krishna graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Loyola College in 1976 and a Master's degree in Physics in 1978 from Andhra University, Waltair, Andhra Pradesh. In 1984, he obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology Madras with guidance from Professor Sankaran Subramanian (Department of Chemistry).

After his Ph.D 1984, he joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, a US Federal Government establishment the world's largest and premier clinical research establishment, as a post-doctoral fellow. He went on to become one of the youngest tenured investigator in that institution in 1993, even while he was on a J1 visa. Since 1993, he is the head of the Biophysics Department at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. He was inducted into the Senior Biomedical Research Service (Title 42 appointment) of the National Institutes of Health in June 2006 (Executive level position created for scientists who are considered by their peers to be outstanding in their work, and who are engaged in peer-reviewed, original, biomedical research). During 2011-15, he served as the Director at the Image Probe Development Center, National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, NIH. He served as the Chairperson of the NCI Tenure Selection Committee. He has been a member of the editorial board of several high impact journals including “Magnetic Resonance in Medicine” and “Cancer Research”. He has published over 200 scientific publications, inventor in several patents in the fields of cancer treatment and cancer imaging, some of which have been licensed for commercialization.

Dr. Cherukuri is a member of Scientific Advisory Board for ACERT, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and Dartmouth Medical School, Department of Radiology. He is a voting member of US Government Interagency Policy Committee for Helium 3 allotments. He served as a Japan Society for Promotion of Science Invitational Professor in 2005. He was awarded the NIH Director's Merit Award in 2011, 2012 and 2015. He was awarded the silver medal of the International Magnetic Resonance Society in 2015.

He translated his imaging research to the clinic to profile tumors in patients to guide precision/tailored therapies. His clinical MRI research group has capabilities available in only a handful of academic medical centers in the world. He leads a team in cancer imaging which is considered to be among the top 5 in the world.

Starting as a physicist and then mastering chemical spectroscopy, Dr. Cherukuri has applied the same to cancer research with a view to unravelling molecular and mechanistic basis of tissue redox status, cancer pathophysiology and metabolic profile by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. He has trained dozens of physicians, scientists who went on to be leaders in their institutions.

For the excellence achieved in technological innovation applied to cancer research, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Dr. Cherukuri Murali Krishna.

Dr. G. Ayyappan is a liquid propulsion specialist and a systems engineer in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He completed his B.Sc. (Engg.) from College of Engineering, Kerala University in 1982, M.Tech from IIT Madras in 1987 and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Kerala University in 2017.

Since joining ISRO in 1982, he has spearheaded some of the most important projects crucial for the country's space research. He led the 'Team ISRO' as Vehicle Director for GSLV MK-III experimental flight-LVM3-X/CARE Mission to a successful flight on December 18, 2014. He was subsequently designated as the Project Director of GSLV MK-III, the most challenging new generation launch vehicle of ISRO for 4T class GSO satellites. He led the project techno-managerially during the crucial phase of development and qualification of vehicle systems. He was Mission Director in the first flight of the rocket on 5th June 2017, which was a success. Notably, GSLV MK-III is also the rocket which is intended to carry out India's first manned mission. Currently, he is the Programme Director, Space Transportation System at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. In 2017, he also worked as the configuration design architect of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) with its state of the art design for cost effectiveness. Currently while discharging his duties as Programme Director, Space Transportation System, Dr. G Ayyappan provides inspiring leadership to technologies intended for recovery and reuse of launch vehicle stages and in the design and development of special purpose to flight demonstrate re-entry and Re-usable launch vehicles and also evaluating the Gaganyan Crew Escape System in different ascent flight trajectory states. Previously, he also served as project manager responsible for configuration design of Liquid Propulsion Stages L40, GS2 and control systems of GSLV and as project manager responsible for system engineering of liquid propulsion, Cyro propulsion and control systems in the GSLV MK-III project.

Dr. G Ayyappan has been bestowed with many awards during his career, which includes the ISRO individual Merit Award and ISRO Team Excellence Awards in the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and as Team Leader in 2017. He was also a member of the Kerala University Syllabus Committee for engineering as well as Pass Board.

He takes great pride in associating with activities which foster development of engineering discipline in the country and is instrumental in organizing/spearheading technical seminars and other conferences towards that.

For his contribution to Research and Development of space technology in India, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Dr. G Ayyappan.

Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Madras in 1984. He went on to finish his Master's in Materials Engineering from University of Cincinnati in 1986 followed by an MBA from the same university in 1988. His love and passion for Music resulted in a Doctorate degree in Indian Music from the University of Madras in 2014.

Dr. Kannikeswaran is referred to as the “Magic Musician from Madras”. He is credited with creating a new territory in music – of melding Indian classical music with traditional western choirs. He is the founding Director of the American School of Indian Art (ASIA), an institution committed to bringing the best of the East and West to the Indian-Diaspora and beyond and the Shanti Academy committed exploring new vistas Indian American choral music and community building. His pioneering work has touched the lives of several lakhs of music lovers, and over 2500 musicians and dancers as they work with him in creating soulful musicals that provide platforms for diverse communities to come together and celebrate the interconnectedness of life. He pioneered The Indian American Choral movement, which led to the founding of the Indian diaspora choirs in several cities in the US. The success of this movement has taken his musical journey to Europe.

These projects have provided a launch pad for amateur singers to explore the apparently borderless world of music, break bread with musicians from various communities, genres and traditions while simultaneously celebrating Indian culture. Dr. Kannikeswaran has contributed widely to the academic world in the field of Music. He is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award from the Geeva foundation and the SRGMPDN foundation, the Humanities award from the Hindu American Foundation along with several other medals in prestigious competitions. He is also the recipient of several fellowships for his teaching of the traditional arts and for his productions.

Dr. Kannikeswaran has been described as a renaissance personality who effortlessly traverses diverse disciplines such as music, spirituality, and innovation. For his exemplary commitment and contribution to the field of music, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award upon Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran.