His sister accepted the prize, which included Rs 5,000, from Kerala's Minister for Culture K C Joseph at an event held in Kochi. This was the first time an overseas cartoonist was honoured by the Akademi.
Kodenkandath decided to draw cartoons after meeting legendary cartoonist R K Laxman at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.
Kodenkandath's cartoon 'Kings of Piravom' won the third prize in a competition conducted by the Janayugam newspaper.
He has donated the prize money for a case involving a cartoonist. The late cartoonist Missy's family and the Kerala Cartoon Academy are fighting a case against a publisher who allegedly published several of Missy's cartoons without permission.
Kodenkandath, a material science scientist by profession, believes cartooning keeps him creative in science. He earned his PhD at IIT-Madras and received a UNESCO award for Promising Young Scientists.
He was a fellow at Imperial College in the UK. He has authored over 75 scientific publications and holds 12 patents.
Image: Dr Thomas A Kodenkandath