Dr. Manu Santhanam is a professor in the Building Technology and Construction Management division, Department of Civil Engineering and currently Associate Dean for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), IIT Madras. His research domains cover cement chemistry and multi-scale characterization of concrete including non-destructive testing, assessment of deterioration mechanisms in concrete and masonry structures, 3D printing of concrete structures, concrete durability and use of supplementary cementing materials. He is also a part of the National Centre for Safety of Heritage Structures (NCSHS) in IITM which focuses on scientific methods for conservation of heritage structures.