Govindan Sundararajan is an Indian materials engineer, known for his contributions in the areas of Surface Engineering and Ballistics. The Government of India honoured him, in 2014, by awarding him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of science and technology. Govindan Sundararajan was born in Andhra Pradesh on 11 December 1953. He graduated in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1976, followed by master's degree (MS) in 1979 and doctoral degree of PhD from the Ohio State University, Columbus, USA in 1981. He returned to India the next year to start his career as a scientist with the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), in 1982. In 1997, he joined the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) as its Director and currently holds the position. Sundararajan has attended many seminars and conferences where he has delivered keynote addresses. He has also published several articles, over 170 in national and international peer reviewed journals.