Nagpur led India's civil engineering fraternity in hosting the National Seminar on Forensic Civil Engineering on 10–11 October 2025, which was instituted by the Institution of Engineers (India), Nagpur Local Centre. The seminar was attended by over 400 delegates comprising civil engineers, researchers, consultants, and academicians from across India for the single-minded purpose of looking for ways to advance structural safety and sustainability.

Under the heading "Understanding, Diagnosing, and Preventing Failures in Structures," the seminar looked at the ways in which forensic science can be employed to prevent and investigate catastrophes within bridges, roads, and other large infrastructures. Some of the topics covered included structural forensics, material degradation, geotechnical failure, environmental forensics, transportation infrastructure, water infrastructure, even legal and ethical principles that guide such investigations.

Some of the seminar attractions included the showcase of 20 real case studies with structural collapse and the techniques of inquiry that were used to lead them to resolution. The examples were best to highlight means by which forensic engineering would make India's transition towards developing and sustaining infrastructure stronger.

Parallel to this was an exhibition featuring the latest diagnostic equipment, test equipment, and materials used in failure analysis, with special focus on technology used in current engineering work. 

The seminar was opened by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was the guest of honor and was conferred the Honorary Fellowship of the Institution of Engineers (India) — an award given to only 52 high-profile personalities in 105 years of the institution. The award recognized Gadkari for his contributions towards sustainable infrastructure and public work innovation.

In hosting this historic seminar successfully, Nagpur reaffirmed itself as a rising hub of forensic civil engineering in India, leading the way with a model for infrastructure development in the country of safety culture, transparency, and innovation.

 Noted speakers such as Dr. C.V.R. Murthy (IIT Madras), Dr. Pradeep Ramancharla (CBRI Roorkee), and Prof. Abhay Bambole (VJTI Mumbai) shared authoritative opinions on structural integrity and technological advancements.

Thirteen Indian forensic medicine experts and researchers were included in Stanford University's Top 2% Scientists list for 2025, a source of great pride for India's scientific and medical community. This global recognition says a lot about their superior quality research work, clinical acumen, and contribution to developing the science of forensic medicine.

The ranking, published every year by Stanford University, orders researchers globally by career-span citation influence, h-index, and co-authorship-adjusted measures—parameters that consider both the amount as well as the quality of published work. Indian experts being included show the nation's increasing contribution to global forensic research and innovation.

Saluting India's Forensic Pioneers

They are also accompanied by Dr. Shankar M. Bakkannavar, Dr. Ashith Acharya, who has also been included on the list for five years in a row, Dr. Tahir UL Gani Mir, and Dr. Sweety Sharma.

Their identification not only speaks volumes of individual merit but also proves to be an indicator of India's growing education and research platform in forensic sciences. These specialists have made immense contributions to areas such as forensic pathology, toxicology, medico-legal examination, and forensic odontology, which have made the country's medico-legal framework even stronger.

Global Impact and Future Outlook

As India continues to invest in forensic research and education, these success stories motivate the next generation of scientists to excel in research. Acknowledgment of these thirteen professionals is the proof of India's new dominance in the area of forensic medicine and its contribution to world health and justice.

Union Home Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Monday underscored the revolutionary role forensic science would serve in India's revamped criminal justice system.

Addressing the All India Forensic Science Summit 2025 in New Delhi, organized by the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Shah expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for transforming the justice system in India with a focus on scientific and technology-based investigations. He went on to add that contemporary crimes are likely to go beyond borders, as is enabled with advances in communications and information technologies, so strong forensic capability is more than ever essential.

The home minister emphasized that these laws replace colonial codes, which are antiquated, and bring in contemporary tools like e-documents, digital summons, and forensic evidence into the legal system. Forensic analysis is now being made compulsory for offenses punishable by over seven years in prison—a very important step towards enhancing the existing conviction rate at 54 percent.

Shah referred to recent instances wherein trials of rape and murder cases were concluded and convictions were obtained within weeks. He emphasized the police's digitization of infrastructure: 100% of police stations are networked with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) now, with over 14 crore First Information Reports (FIRs) and connected information online. These types of systems such as electronic Forensics (e-Forensics), National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), and electronic Prison Management System (e-Prison) are constructing a humongous national database, which will shortly be augmented by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for predictive policing and crime prevention.

Seven campuses are already functioning, nine more are opening shortly and ten more will be set up, which will give it a pan-India presence, claimed the home minister.

All the campuses would focus on a specific niche—like drone, marine, or corporate forensics—and the university would be producing about 36,000 forensic professionals every year, he said.

The home minister promoted the creation of a more humanized judiciary and suggested psychological counseling and criminal classification according to the nature and intent of the offense. A prisoner rehabilitation system with a forensic-oriented perspective would be established in the upcoming two years, he stated.

Shah also discussed the creation of the Modus Operandi Bureau, which would have a study on criminal behavior to further the crime prevention strategy. He demanded greater coordination between NFSU and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and praised young entrepreneurs for their performance during the hackathon of the summit and for popularizing the application of Hindi in forensic science.

Shah again emphasized that India is firmly on a mission to create a crime-free, fair, and technologically advanced society.

Forensic science is a growing career that gives scientists the opportunity to become specialized in a number of different techniques. Two of the reasons that people are drawn to the forensic science field are to be involved in preventing crime and witnessing justice. Forensic scientists gather evidence from the crime scene and test the evidence in a laboratory.

Evidence at a crime scene can include bodily fluids, fibers and weapons. Crime fighters that use chemical and biologic technology to analyze the evidence they can recover are forensic scientists. They document their observations in photographs and sketches and reconstruct crime scenes. 

Cleveland Miles, the deputy director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, learned about forensics while interviewing a lab technician at the GBI crime lab. He was working as a drug chemistry technician at the time and went back to school after two years to take a course in biochemistry so that he could apply to be a scientist.

The GBI subsequently promoted him to forensic biologist, in which capacity he worked in the serology and DNA sections. The GBI trained him in those sections. He was "working cases and working evidence," which was very fulfilling for him as a scientist, he states.

"I was doing science and I was helping people," Miles says. "They were victims of crime. Some of them were killed. We could investigate the evidence that arrived and connect some factual detail about it that could help that investigation and lead to someone being arrested, or clear someone who was falsely accused."

He spent five years or so working as a scientist before transitioning into management. He saw there was room to help more junior professionals who had career aspirations in forensics.

To work in his department, applicants must pass drug and polygraph tests. When Miles talks to young individuals about a career in forensics, he warns them that they should be ready for such tests, something he has seen a lot of applicants fail at.

Along with these qualifications, as stated by the BLS, technicians may also be subject to taking proficiency tests in such fields of laboratory science, for example. 

The BLS also predicts employment growth in forensic science will be robust – it will increase 13% from 2024 to 2034. In May of 2024, the median for forensic science technicians was $67,440.

The bureau also reports scientific and technological progress will increase the application of forensic data available to courts, and consequently will require more employees working in conjunction with law enforcement administrators.

Thanks to crime investigation television shows and films, competition for jobs will probably be stiff, say experts.

The students asked for the type of course, and Meader persuaded administrators to allow her to pilot it. She consulted with police department acquaintances and also attended an American Academy of Forensic Science conference, where she picked the brains of forensic experts about how to prepare her course to best effect.

"It was a great experience that mushroomed into something bigger than anything I ever could have dreamed," she says.

Meador explains how the students learn to apply their categorical science in a three-dimensional context: looking at a crime scene from biology's perspective, the availability of living tissue; chemistry, in chemical reaction; and physics, taking into consideration angles such as the way a gun was shot.

She informs them that what they are used to viewing on a Hollywood show is not real. "It is not always possible to solve a crime in 45 minutes. Not that it can happen, but the whole process from receiving a call about a crime to what the end result of the crime is, is a time-consuming process."

Careers in Forensic Science

The majority of Meador's forensics students have gone into law enforcement and homicide investigation, she says. "I have some students who went into the lab work doing DNA research in biology and chemistry, students who've gone into medicine, and some who've gone into doing law."