Visit to Matter Material Testing and Research Laboratory, Kozhikode

A team of 19 MTech first semester Structural Engineering and Construction management ( S1 SECM) students and 5 staff members  including Dr. Jiji Antony, Professor & Head of CE, Dr. Kavitha P E, Dr Asha Joseph, Associate Professors,  Ms Nincy Jose, Assistant  Professor, and Mr. Pauly P K, Lab instructor, visited the Matter Material testing and Research Laboratory at Kozhikode on 13 December 2022. The  purpose of the visit was to familiarise the students with  modern material testing methods included in the Advanced Structural Engineering Lab of 2022 MTech curriculum.

Enthusiasm was very high as the college bus started from the campus at 6.00 am. Everyone was eager to to visit the largest material testing lab in South India,  set up by Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS) Ltd, : the  a 98-year-old cooperative, and one of the world's largest labour contract cooperative societies. The lab, accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), has advanced facilities to undertake a wide range of materials testing in construction, geotechnical, metallurgy, chemistry, environmental and microbiology domains.

The team reached the lab at 10.00 am,  received a warm welcome by ULCCS.  General manager Mr.Freddy Soman and Deputy general manager Mr. Anil Pottekkat took everyone to the conference room. Mr. Freddy in his short and crisp talk gave insight into  various projects undertaken by ULCCS all over Kerala, the motivation behind the formation of such a testing centre with immense facilities, support extended to various ongoing project works of departments and academia and its future plans to become an excellent research centre of the country. He briefed about the different divisions of the Lab and the expertise of people working on each division.

After the short introduction, the team visited the various labs of ULCCS, offering services for Construction material testing ( Soil, aggregate, concrete, asphalt, concrete masonry products, paving blocks etc)services,  Geotechnical investigations, Chemistry and microbiological services (drinking  water, waste water, waste water,   microbiological analysis of food, air, swab  etc) , Metallurgical testing services, Special products ( Geotextiles, GFRP, GRC, Aluminium Composite panels, waterproofing membranes, wood, plywood  services  etc.). It was a proud moment for FISAT, our Alumni Ms Sreelaksmi is in lead role as Quality Control Engineer of the lab.

The team from ULCCS demonstrated all the non destructive testing methods that  are specifically mentioned in the new syllabus well with the help of very sophisticated testing equipments available with the Matterlab. It was a great value addition to everyone.

ULCCS' hospitality was beyond words; they served a sumptuous lunch for everyone. They were eager to assist in any way they could, explaining how each machine worked, the principles underlying it, clearing up any doubts, and so on. Dr. Jiji Antony thanked the members of ULCCS for  arranging such a treasured  visit for us. She specially mentioned about the the cleanliness of the lab and premises, the hospitality of the people and their vision to become the research centre and wished all success for their future endavours. The team left the lab at 4 p.m.

The day was truly special, the visit added lot of value and will be cherished for a long time, everyone was back in campus late night after a long trip. 

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Dr. Asha Joseph, Associate Professor

Dept of CE