The 84th foundation day of CSIR was celebrated with great enthusiasm at the CSIR Campus in Taramani, Chennai, by CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC) and CSIR Madras Complex (CMC).
Open Day was observed on the occasion of the 84th Foundation Day celebrations of CSIR, on 26 September 2025, at CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai, by CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC) and CSIR Madras Complex comprising the regional units of CSIR-CECRI, CSIR-CEERI, CSIR-CSIO, CSIR-NEERI and CSIR-NML. All laboratories in the CSIR Campus were kept open for the general public between 9:30 AM and 2.30 PM. Elaborate arrangements were made to receive the visitors. Technologies, products, and state-of-the-art facilities were showcased and demonstrated for the benefit of the visitors. A record number of 9700 visitors, including school and college students, teachers, professionals from the industry, entrepreneurs, and the general public, visited the CSIR campus and the Tower Testing & Research Station (TTRS) campus of CSIR-SERC with great enthusiasm. They had a first-hand glimpse of multifarious and multi-discipline R&D programmes currently going on in the laboratories and the technologies developed. The visitors showed keen interest and passionately interacted with the scientific staff.
The foundation day function was held on 8 October 2025 at 2.30 PM and was presided over by Dr. N. Anandavalli, Director, CSIR-SERC and Coordinating Director, CMC. Dr. Shivakumar Kalyanaraman, Chief Executive Officer, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), New Delhi, and Dr. Manish Jaiswal, Director, National Automative Test Tracks (NATRAX), Indore, were the chief guests of the function.
In her Foundation Day address, Dr. Anandavalli, talked about the genesis, history, legacy, and transformation of CSIR in the eight decades of its existence in brief, . She also highlighted the contributions and significant achievements of CSIR and its pivotal role in nation-building and in shaping the growth of science and technology in the country since its inception on 26 September 1942. Dr. Anandavalli also spoke on the focus areas of CSIR-SERC – structural health monitoring and life extension, disaster mitigation, advanced materials for sustainable structures, special and multi-functional structures, energy infrastructure, and offshore structures, and the research being done in these areas. She also spoke about the significant research contributions of the laboratories under CSIR Madras Complex.
Dr. C. Kumaravelu, Scientist-in-charge, CSIR-CEERI, introduced Dr. Manish Jaiswal to the audience. Dr. Jaiswal delivered the CSIR Foundation Day lecture on Vehicle Proving Ground – Opportunities and Challenges. In his lecture, he gave a brief on National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX), its laboratories, facilities and significance, vehicle dynamics testing on track, vehicle development model, current status of ADAS systems and autonomous technologies, ADAS testing facility, challenges in new vehicle testing, sustainable material and track maintenance challenges, etc. He sought the intervention of CSIR-SERC in the area of track maintenance by way of partnership between CSIR-SERC and NATRAX.
Dr. S. Parivallal, Advisor (M), CSIR-SERC, introduced the chief guest Dr. Shivakumar Kalyanaraman, to the audience. Dr. Kalyanaraman, delivered the CSIR Foundation Day address on AI for Science and Engineering The New Frontier. In his lecture, he gave a brief introduction to ANRF, ANRF Core & ANRF RDI, and the strategic approach of ANRF across the TRL spectrum. He also spoke about AI revolution in scientific research, SARAL: democratising research using AI & social media, Mission AI for science and engineering and how ANRF envisions to revolutionize science and engineering in India. He also highlighted that ANRF represents India’s pioneering efforts to unleash Indian research and innovation talent to achieve global scientific and technological excellence.
Every year, during the foundation day function, Dr. M. Ramaiah Award is presented for the best technical papers published by the scientists of CSIR-SERC. For the year 2024-2025, two papers were selected by the Committee as best papers and two papers were chosen for certificate of merit. The Director congratulated all the authors of the papers selected, and the chief guest presented Dr. M. Ramaiah Award to the winners. The selected papers are as follows:
Best technical papers:
Comparison of methods to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength in buildings, published in Earthquakes and Structures, authored by A.R. Vijayanarayanan, M. Saravanan, and M. Surendran
Early detection and monitoring of corrosion in reinforced concrete structures using coupled time-frequency analysis, published in the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, ASCE, authored by A. Thirumalaiselvi and Saptarshi Sasmal
Certificate of merit papers:
CO₂ sequestration through alkali-activated steel slag: a review, published in the Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials, authored by Senthil Kumar Kaliyavaradhan, Arathi Kannamkottil Unnikrishnan, and P.S. Ambily
Seismic performance evaluation of reinforced concrete building frame with vertical and plan irregularity, published in the Journal of Structural Engineering, authored by J. Prakashvel, C. Umarani, K. Sathish Kumar, and G.V. Rama Rao
As a part of the function, Director, CSIR-SERC and Coordinating Director, CMC, honoured the employees of CSIR-SERC and CMC, who have superannuated during the past year. The employees who have completed 25 years of service in CSIR were also felicitated. A brief report on open day was presented by Dr. S. Maheswaran, Chairman, Common Core Committee. Dr. Smitha Gopinath, Chairman, Open Day Committee, CSIR-SERC, proposed vote of thanks at the end of the function.
Every year, as a part of CSIR foundation day celebrations, an inter-school quiz programme, Eureka, and CSIR open day science competitions for the wards of employees of CSIR-SERC and CMC are organized. This year, Eureka 2025 was organized on 16 September 2025 at the CSIR Campus, which turned out to be a success. Twenty-three schools from Chennai and Pondicherry participated in the event. CSIR open day science competition was held on 14 September 2025 at the CSIR campus and more than 100 students participated. Prizes were distributed for the winners of the competitions on 8 October 2025, during the foundation day function by Dr. Anandavalli.