Science is causing qualitative changes not only in technology but also in society, said Prof. Ajayan Pulickel, Professor at Rice University, USA. He was speaking at the ongoing International Conference on Functional Materials for Advanced Technology at Central University of Kerala.

"There are many unsung heroes who have made efforts and contributions to the advancement of the field of science. The hard work of such unsung heroes who dedicated their lives to laboratories is important in the advancement of science," he pointed out.

An internationally famous Keralite, Prof. Ajayan is the co-inventor of Carbon nanotubes and the owner of two Guinness world records for making the smallest nanobrush and the darkest material in the world. During his speech, he explained that through the development of research related to nanotechnology, it is possible to find solutions including brain injuries. 

Vice-Chancellor Prof. H. Venkateshwarlu inaugurated the conference which is being conducted under the leadership of the Physics Department. He stated that more conferences will be organized on the campus with the participation of internationally renowned scientists. He also felicitated Prof. Ajayan Pulickel.

Prof. Vincent Mathew, Prof. K.J. Thomas, Prof.Swapna S Nair, Prof. Rajendra Pilankatta and Prof. A. Sakthivel spoke during the event. Prof. Reji Philip (RRI, Bangalore), Dr. Suchand Sandeep C.S. (NTU Singapore), Dr.Senoy Thomas (CUSAT, Kerala), Igor Bdikin (University of Aveiro), Prof. Madhu Thomas (AASTU Ethiopia), Prof.Atakilt Abebe (Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia), Sujith Kumar Dora (Nanosurf, India) etc. led various sessions. 24 nationally and internationally renowned scientists are presenting papers at the three-day conference on the potential of nanotechnology.