[2] A winner of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil),[3][4][5] he was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.

[1][8] He also worked part-time at Twin City Testing and Engineering Laboratories, a private firm, as a materials engineer[2] Anandakrishnan returned to India in 1962 and started his Indian career as a Grade I Senior Scientific Officer at the Central Road Research Institute, Delhi and worked there for a year.

[2] He also served IIT Kanpur as the chairman of the central staff recruiting committee and as the advisor on campus development.

[2] In 1990, Anandakrishnan returned to India to take up the position as the vice chancellor of Anna University, Tamil Nadu[8] and served the institution for two consecutive terms till 1996.

[1][2][12] During this period, he was also a member of an International Expert Committee for the development of Science and Technology in Brazil and was involved in its activities till 1997.

[1] He was a former chairman of Science City, Tamil Nadu,[18] Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS),[12] the High-Power Committee for the Review and Reorientation of the Undergraduate Engineering Education in India and the Board of Undergraduate Studies of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE),[14] New Delhi.

[2] He was a member of the Managing Committee of the Tamil Nadu chapter of the Transparency International, a trustee of the Information Technology Bar of India, Chennai, a trustee and subsequently the chairman of the Ranganathan Centre for Information Studies and held the chair of the Academic Advisory Committee of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore.

[2][8] In 1972, he received the Indian Invention Promotion Award for developing the design of a radial permeability measuring device.

[2] The International Institute of Tamil Studies honoured him in 1999 and the Centenarian Trust, Chennai selected him as the Man of the Year 1999.