The Government of India has conferred the Padma Shri on Veezhinathan Kamakoti, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, in recognition of his contributions to the field of Science and Engineering. The award was announced as part of the Republic Day honours for 2026 and cites his work in computer architecture and its applications to national security.
Kamakoti currently serves as the Director of IIT Madras, a position he has held since January 2022. His professional work has focused on processor architecture, secure systems, and indigenous technology development, with an emphasis on reducing reliance on proprietary foreign hardware in sensitive digital infrastructure.
He is the lead investigator for the Microprocessor Development Programme at IIT Madras, supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Under this programme, the institute developed the SHAKTI Microprocessor, described as India’s first indigenous family of processors based on the RISC-V open-source instruction set architecture. The initiative is intended to create domestic processor designs for deployment in strategic and civilian applications.
As part of this effort, collaborations with the Indian Space Research Organisation have led to the development of the Indigenous RISC-V Controller for Space Applications, known as IRIS. The official citation associated with the Padma Shri notes that the SHAKTI designs are positioned as “trusted silicon” solutions, aimed at addressing concerns related to hardware security and supply chain integrity in critical systems.
In addition to his research responsibilities, Kamakoti has held several advisory roles in national technology and policy bodies. He has served as a member of the National Security Advisory Board, contributing technical inputs related to digital systems and security. He has also been associated with government-led initiatives on artificial intelligence policy and has participated in technology committees linked to the Reserve Bank of India and the National Stock Exchange.
During his tenure as Director, IIT Madras has continued to secure the top position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework, an annual assessment conducted by the Ministry of Education. The institute has maintained its standing across multiple evaluation cycles under his leadership.
Kamakoti completed his postgraduate and doctoral studies at IIT Madras, specialising in very-large-scale integration design and information security, before joining the institute’s faculty in 2001. His academic output includes more than 150 published research papers. He has previously received national-level recognitions, including awards associated with defence research and technology innovation, prior to the Padma Shri announcement.
