Sastry's contributions are based on his researches focused on thin films and nano materials,[9] as well as the commercial applications of the technologies he has developed. As the chief scientific officer of Tata Chemicals, he introduced a low-cost water purifier, Swach, which utilized nano-silvers as the filtering agent. He established an innovation centre there which worked on a number of projects based on nanotechnology.[8] It was during his tenure as the CEO of IITB-Monash Research Academy, the institution set up a new headquarters in Mumbai where he oversees inter-disciplinary scientific research with participation from some of the leading Indian and overseas business houses.[10] He has published his research by way of chapters contributed to books authored by others and over 360 peer-reviewed articles.[11][12] He holds many US and Indian patents;[13]Justia Patents has listed 24 of these.[14] He has also been associated with many governmental and semi-governmental science agencies such as Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology, Presidential Nanotechnology Committee and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research as well as a number of science journals.[1]