Who is Nallathamby Kalaiselvi, CSIR's first woman director general?

Senior scientist, Nallathamby Kalaiselvi, has been appointed as the first female director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a consortium of 38 research institutes across the country.

Her appointment is for two years, beginning on the date she takes over the post or until further orders, whichever comes first, according to a personnel ministry order issued on Saturday.

Kalaiselvi takes over for Shekhar Mande, who retired in April. Following Mande's retirement, Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, was given additional responsibility for the CSIR.

Kalaiselvi is best known for her work in lithium-ion batteries, and she is currently the director of the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.

She will also be the secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Kalaiselvi had risen through the ranks of the CSIR and broke the proverbial glass ceiling in February 2019 when she became the first woman scientist to lead the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI).

She began her research career as an entry-level scientist at the same institute.

Kalaiselvi grew up in Ambasamudhram, a small town in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district, and attended school in Tamil medium, which she says helped her understand science concepts in college.

Over the last 25 years, Kalaiselvi's research has primarily focused on electrochemical power systems, specifically the development of electrode materials and the electrochemical evaluation of in-house prepared electrode materials for their suitability in energy storage device assembly.

Among her research interests are lithium and beyond lithium batteries, supercapacitors, waste-to-wealth driven electrodes and electrolytes for energy storage and electrocatalytic applications.

She is currently working on the development of Sodium-ion/Lithium-sulfur batteries and supercapacitors.

Kalaiselvi also contributed significantly to the National Mission for Electric Mobility. She is the author of over 125 research papers and six patents.

(With inputs from PTI)

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