Mumbai, Mar 12: KPIT Technologies, a global partner to the automotive and mobility ecosystem focused on building a cleaner, smarter and safer world, announced the winners of the 7th edition of the KPIT Shodh Awards, recognising doctoral research contributing to some of the most significant technology domains shaping industry today.
The 2026 edition placed particular emphasis on doctoral research aligned with Energy & Climate, Advanced Materials, Bioengineering and Artificial Intelligence (AI) – areas driving the next generation of intelligent and sustainable systems. The programme saw participation from over 400 PhD scholars with more than 170 doctoral research submissions, this year.
The submissions reflected major global megatrends, including the acceleration of AI-driven systems, the urgency of climate-responsive energy innovation, material science advancements enabling next-generation engineering, and bioengineering solutions addressing complex healthcare and environmental needs.
The Awards follow a structured, year-long, multi-stage evaluation process. Research themes are curated to reflect evolving technological priorities, and submissions are reviewed by KPIT’s senior leadership and subject matter experts across disciplines. Human expertise led the evaluation, with AI augmenting scale and consistency to ensure depth, rigour and fairness across the review process. In addition to scientific depth and originality, the evaluation considered long-term technological relevance, translational potential and the ability of the research to address systemic, real-world challenges.
At the KPIT Shodh Awards 2026, Biplab Patra from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) received the Platinum Award (INR 14 lakhs) for his research titled “Rational Design and Chemical Modulation of NASICON Electrodes for Fast-Charging and Long-Lasting Na-ion Batteries.” The Gold Award (INR 12 lakhs) was awarded to Komal Jaiswal from IISc Bangalore for the project “NanoPhotoCatalysis: A New Dimension in Synthetic Chemistry.” The 3rd Prize of INR 5 lakhs was awarded to Aakash Ahuja from IIT Bombay for the project “Low-Cost and High Cycle Life Li-ion Battery Development.”
Commenting on the occasion, Ravi Pandit, Chairman, KPIT Technologies, said,
“The pace of transformation across artificial intelligence, energy systems and advanced engineering demands research that is both rigorous and deeply contextual. What stood out this year was the alignment of doctoral work with real-world complexity – researchers are addressing challenges that industries are actively grappling with today. As technology systems become more intelligent, interconnected and sustainable, foundational research will play a defining role in shaping solutions that are robust, responsible and enduring. Through the KPIT Shodh Awards, we aim to strengthen the bridge between academia and industry and encourage research that truly advances long-term technological progress.”
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