Dr. Suraj Damodaran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Instrumentation, CUSAT. He holds a Ph.D. in Robotics and Control, and achieved a GATE percentile score of 98.1 in 2007. He has published research works in SCIE-indexed international journals and presented papers at reputed international conferences. He has also participated in several workshops and conferences hosted by IITs and NITs.

His research interests include Control Theory applications in Robotic Systems, Model-Order Reduction, Genetic Algorithms, Model-Matching Control, Fractional-Order Control, and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) technologies. He is a member of The Robotics Society (India) and serves as a reviewer for IEEE, Sage journals, and various prestigious international conferences, in addition to being a Technical Program Committee (TPC) member for several IEEE events.

Dr. Suraj Damodaran is the Principal Investigator of the Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Lab at Department of Instrumentation, CUSAT—an initiative under the IIT Tirupati Navavishkar i-Hub Foundation (IITTNiF), a Section 8 company established under the Department of Science and Technology’s National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). The lab focuses on advancing PNT technologies to support India’s vision for self-reliance in geospatial intelligence, satellite navigation, indoor positioning, and sensor fusion. Recognized as a Nodal Institute for this national initiative, the PNT Lab at Department of Instrumentation, CUSAT supports UG and PG students from CUSAT and neighbouring institutions in undertaking course projects with financial assistance and technical guidance from CUSAT faculty and IITTNiF experts.

He also serves as the faculty-in-charge of the Department’s Robotics Club (INDRA), a student-led research group that fosters interdisciplinary innovation in robotics. Under his mentorship, the group actively participates in national-level competitions, workshops, and research projects that bridge academic theory with real-world applications.