The Power of CSIR Institute of Industrial Research – Napoleon Ato Kittoe writes PART-2

With China swarming the space with Electric Vehicles, EVs, the CSIR Institute of Industrial Research, CSIR-IIR, is well-positioned to play extensive roles in this new dawn. The institute has the technical know-how to service EVs, and it is the best referral point for all EV car owners and other auto mechanics for professional advice. A hub facility is to be located in IIR following the allocation of funds to CSIR by AUD-NEPAD to foster youth training in automotive, mechatronics, Computer-Aided Design, Computer Numerical Control, and 3D. Basically, it is how we design and build real things with computers. For example, you may design a car steering, a phone case, or engine parts in 3D on the computer. This is to offer integrated training, entrepreneurship, and a database to constitute a hub.

Although the Ghana Standards Authority, GSA, has a primary role, the CSIR Institute of Industrial Research, CSIR-IIR, also has the licensed capacity to test and train vulcanizers. Increasingly, it has come to light that poor pressure in car tyres is part of the causes of road accidents. The institute can train vulcanizers on how to calibrate pressures in tyres. For example, in the accident involving the Ghana Presidential Press Corps in 2015, the National Road Safety Authority, NRSA, made the disclosure that the vehicle operated on tyres made for terrains in blizzards.

Hitherto, the conventional platform for equipment-making, which still exists, was engineering design. Working with universities and other institutions, this unit fabricated most of the equipment used in processing cassava, separating palm kernels from their shells, and preserving yams for at least 6 months. Corporate organizations have benefited immensely. The correcting systems of Coca Cola, the combustible waste system of Tema Oil Refinery, and the fixed extraction chamber of Nestle, to name but a few. If it does plant equipment valuation and auditing, it is only logical that IIR’s Engineering Design unit is in the position to teach other fabricators.

Actually, solar-powered electricity is the way to go as fossil fuel and non-renewable energy sources are stretched to their limits. The IIR itself is a shining example. It alerts the public that “Life is not only about how much one consumes, but it is also about saving energy.” In using energy for all operations, it was able to reduce cost from 9,000 to 2,700 cedis by transitioning from conventional power sources, through diesel to solar. IIR undertakes an energy audit by use of sensor lights. For instance, infrared sensors guide them to film areas that are too hot or heated. It is a system for checking power consumption in gadgets such as laptops, mobile phones, etc. Tapping power from sunlight through solar panels will soon be the last resort for electricity consumers, at least we don’t know yet whether life will ever be deprived of sunlight.

Again, the CSIR-IIR offers training in how to design, install, and maintain Solar PVs. Dr Gabriel Laryea who was introduced to me as the head of the energy technology division in 2019, said the specialties of the division are solar, thermal, and bio-energy, their efficient uses, and installation of any of the types cited above. Trainees are awarded certificates to enable them to do installations in West Africa and beyond. The experts note that off-grid projects require locally trained technicians. The exam has three components: 70 percent practicals, 20 percent theory, and 10 percent interview. It is certified under the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Efficiency – ECREE.

The cost of livestock feed is becoming alarmingly high. Both imports and local formulations are expensive. It is made all the worse when shortfalls in domestic supply compel Ghana to import the feed from countries with a comparative advantage in livestock production, as their exports are cheaper. This prompted research scientists to look for alternative sources of livestock feed. They came up with insectaries where the black soldier fly and houseflies were trapped. The insects lay eggs out of which larvae are born. Considered very nutritious for poultry, the larvae are used to formulate feed for domestic birds. The insect larvae feed has an advantage over soya, as you do not need expanses of land to cultivate crops such as maize and soya. The Animal Research Institute, ARI, and the Institute of Industrial Research, as sister institutes of CSIR, operate insectaries. Insectary and equipment in use were designed and fabricated by the latter. That, and the IIR’s feed formulation facility for catfish came under theft. Also vandalized by thieves is the herbal extraction plant. Motors and cables on the plant were stolen.

A cardinal point made with respect to insectaries is that they require the attachment of entomologists. For the high-stakes project on the Black soldier fly under the auspices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, MoFA, with sponsorship coming from development partners – DANIDA, IIR seeks a role. It wants a contract to fabricate equipment. In the larger picture, such a collaboration leads to technological transfers among stakeholders.

Before Dr Richard Bayitse moved up on the ladder to become the Deputy Director of IIR, replacing Dr William Oduro in specified rotational appointments, he was the head of Industrial Processes Research and Development. He said, all other divisions revolve around this division. Basically, the division works to improve on product quantity and quality controls. It has been of immense assistance to Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs. The presidential initiative on salt tapped from this division. It trained hundreds of people in the know-how of iodization and crystallization of salt. Dr Bayitse said, that research had been conducted on the conversion of waste or synthetic products into liquid soap. This technology has been transferred to third parties to commercialize both knowledge and products.

In the materials lab, are processes such as pulling, blowing, and joining. The chain is known as glass blowing and it is the procedure for fabricating equipment made of glass. Some of these glasswares – gauges and tubes – the meteorology department and hospitals are the main users of the items. Research scientists are people with keener sight. They are trained or have the natural talent for seeing beyond the surface. It is with such an uncanny sixth sense they are able to identify and harvest a shiny algae in water known as oil plant to produce bio-fuel. Biogas is safe and economical when used on electricity, stoves, and cars. Cook-stoves emitting fires that are bluish are of less heat with little or no smoke. That is clean energy and climate-smart. The highlights of the circular economy all CSIR institutes produce have to do with waste-to-energy and agricultural fertilizers. No losses to be incurred, perhaps, in the cleaner environmental procedures and even waste generating incomes.

The CSIR Institute of Industrial Research, CSIR-IIR, in 2026 opened a basic school in general studies that would be meticulously guided for greater results. It is located in its compound at East Legon, Accra.

In conclusion, I digress to South Korea briefly. Over there it is the rule that research scientists are attached to business enterprises and state-run companies. Ghana can also step forward in the act by having scientific research represented in key missions abroad, either by themselves or the trade attaches, to canvass for deals and partnerships. The CSIR Institute of Industrial Research, CSIR-IIR, has an internal matter to broach. Both Dr Bayitse and the substantive director of the institute, Dr Joseph Boateng Agyenim, agree that there is a need to create the office of head of laboratories to coordinate activities in all the labs. They have also drawn attention to the fact that the number of technicians are dwindling in the institute as some advance to become research scientists. The senior scientists have said, the previous polytechnics supplied the technical hands required, yet they will fall on the technical universities and other training institutions to post their graduates to CSIR-IIR. Meanwhile, adverts are running seeking tutors for its newly-established basic school.