The Engineering Materials Research Department has a Head of Department
The importance of engineering materials in the economic emancipation and national security of any nation is of great importance. They play important roles in production and consumption activities. Many industrialized economies such as Japan, Australia, USA and Europe, have engineering materials policies that safeguard availability of this class of materials in their respective countries. Depending on their situation, the policy may emphasize innovation in production and processing, investment, conservation, or price stabilization.
It was in the recognition of the vital role engineering materials technology plays in the sustainable economic recovery and growth of this nation that in 1992, when the Ministry of Science and Technology was phased out and the Institute was taken over by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), it (NASENI) expanded the mandate of the Institute to include research and development in the field of engineering materials. Consequently, the Institute established the Engineering Materials Division. The Division did not take off until September, 1993. The Division, as a result of re-organization of the Institute was upgraded to “Engineering Materials Research Department (EMRD)”.
1. Mandate of the Department
The Department was established to conduct applied research and development into the systems and processes for the conversion of raw and or semi-finished materials into engineering materials of various shapes, gauges, forms, etc. which are needed in the production of capital goods (machinery, equipment, spare parts, and consumer goods). The emphasis here is on cost effective innovations that can produce machinery for building construction which can be used in mass housing delivery and access roads construction for the purpose of poverty reduction in the country.
The central objective of the Department is to catalyse rapid development of facilities and national capability to design and mass produce machinery, equipment and spare parts needed to support activities in the Building and Road Construction Industry and Engineering Materials Sector of the economy.
2. Divisions and Sections
The Department has two Divisions as follows:
- Metals and Composites: this division comprise of three sections
- Ferrous Metals Section
- Non-ferrous Metal Section
- Composite & New Materials Section
- Non – Metallic Materials: this division is made up of
- Ceramic Section
- Structural Polymer
- Workshop; and Polymer.