Chokkanathapuram Venkataraman Sundaram received DIISc (Metallurgy) (1952) from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He served as Head, Metallurgy Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (1975-82); Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam (1982-89); and Homi Bhabha Visiting Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore (1991).

Academic and Research Achievements: Sundaram was responsible for the development of the extractive metallurgy of zirconium from laboratory through pilot plant to production scale, for application in nuclear power reactors; and development of detailed flowsheets for producing titanium, beryllium, niobium and tantalum. He was associated with the first phase of the commissioning of the sodium-cooled, plutonium-fuelled fast breeder test reactor at Kalpakkam.

Other Contributions: Sundaram was interested in the history of Indian Metallurgy, a subject on which he lectured extensively. He served as Chairman of the Research Council, Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar. He was Member of the Metallurgical Society (USA) and Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) (Honorary Member). He was Chief Editor of the Transactions of The Indian Institute of Metals (1972-80), Metals Materials and Processes (1989-) and Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Nuclear Materials.

Awards and Honours: Dr Sundaram was conferred the Kamani Gold Medal by IIM, National Metallurgists’ Day Award (1970), VASVIK Award (1980), Platinum Medal by IIM (1985), Platinum Jubilee Distinguished Alumnus Award by IISc (1985), Sanjay Gandhi Award (1985), Syed Husain Zaheer Medal by INSA (1985-86) and Padma Bhushan (1986). He was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and Indian National Academy of Engineering.