Dr. K. Ramesha assumed charge as Director, CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi on April 29, 2023. He obtained his M. Sc. (Chemistry) in 1993 from Mangalore University and Ph. D. (Solid State & Structural Chemistry) in 2000 from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. Dr. K. Ramesha is a recipient of the K. P. Abraham Medal for Best Ph.D. Thesis from IISc, Bangalore.

Dr. K. Ramesha was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland, USA, University of California, USA, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA during the period 2001–2006. During his Ph.D. and Postdoctoral research, his work was on understanding structure-property relationships in magnetic, multiferroic and spintronic  materials. In 2007, he joined the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore as a Fellow and worked there until he joined in CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI) as a Quick Hire Scientist in 2008. Since then, Dr. K. Ramesha has been working at CSIR-CECRI in various positions before being appointed as Director of CSIR-CECRI.

Before taking charge as Director, Dr. K. Ramesha was leading the team involved in developing indigenous Li-ion battery prototypes. He was involved in fabricating cylindrical-type Li-ion batteries containing various cathode chemistries such as LiNMC, LiNCA, etc. He was also involved in developing all-solid-state Li-ion battery technology.

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Dr. K. Ramesha’s areas of specialization are materials for energy storage, particularly for Li-ion batteries and other futuristic energy storage devices such as Na-ion, Li-S, Li-Air, and all-solid-state batteries.

He has published about 100 research papers in international peer-reviewed journals including two papers in the prestigious journal Nature Materials. For the first time, he established the role of reversible anionic redox chemistry in doubling the capacity of layered cathodes of Li-ion batteries.

He has developed five technologies and has transferred two process/know-how. Further, he has also filed two patents. Dr. K. Ramesha has guided 10 Ph.D. scholars and a number of post-graduate students.

♦ CSIR JRF and SRF research fellowships (1994 to 1999)

♦ K.P. Abraham medal for best Ph D thesis in the area of Materials Chemistry from IISc, Bangalore for the year 2000-2001

♦ Director, CSIR-CECRI Karaikudi since April 2023

♦ Patron, Society of Advancement of Electrochemical Science and Technology (SAEST) 2023 onwards

♦ Patron, National Corrosion Council of India (NCCI) 2023 onwards

♦ External expert member of the University Research Council (URC), SRM IST, Kattankulathur, Chennai, (2023)

♦ Nodal Officer for Consultative Committee e-Mobility Chemistry (CGeM), (2023)

♦ CSIR representative to USA to launch US-India New and Emerging Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP), 2023

♦ Mission Director, CSIR-Fast Track Mission on Redox Flow Battery (RFB), 2023

♦ Member, Governing Board of Kotak School of Sustainability (KSS) at IIT Kanpur (2024)

♦ Member of the Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) for the SRA on Advanced Battery Technologies at IIT, Bombay (2024)

♦ Member of Committee to review and promote R&D for developing the value chain from beneficiation/processing/refining of critical minerals and offshore minerals (2024)

♦ Mission Director for the CSIR-Mission Mode Project on ‘Battery to Battery: Recovery of Metal Values from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries and Fabrication of New Lithium-Ion Batteries - A Circular Economy Approach’, (2024)

♦ Member for the Technology Vertical – Tropical EV Battery and Battery Cells of Mission Advisory Committee (MAC) for MAHA-EV Mission by DST-ANRF, New Delhi, (2024)

♦ Mission Director CSIR-Innovation Centre for Next Generation Energy Storage Solutions – Ver 2.0 (ICeNGESS-Ver 2.0), (2025)

♦ Programme Director for the Mission Mode Project “CSIR H2T Phase-II: CSIR-Hydrogen Alliance: Developing and Establishing Hydrogen as Next Gen Fuel”, (2025)

♦ Member, Committee Constituted for Effective Implementation of Battery Waste Management Rules -2022 by MoEF&CC (2025)

♦ Member of Expert Review Committee (ERC) for the project “Centre for Excellence in Rechargeable Battery Technology (Pre Cell) by MeitY (2025).

♦ President, Society for Advancement of Electrochemical Science and Technology (SAEST), 2025.