Martin Engineering opens research center

The process simulation area in Martin Engineering's Center for Innovation includes a three-belt recirculating conveyor system. (Photo contributed)

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NEPONSET — A $5 million 22,600-square-foot corporate research center has been opened by Martin Engineering, a privately-held company that has its world headquarters in Neponset.

The new Martin Engineering Center for Bulk Materials Handling Innovation holds the promise of improved productivity and profitability in these industrial operations where the clean, efficient handling of a bulk material is a key to the production process. The Center for Innovation (CFI) is a facility with the goals of improving bulk materials handling through collaboration, innovation and education.

Part pure-science research laboratory and part industrial product development center, CFI will collaborate with partners including corporations, industry associations and universities for practical research to solve the common problems in the handling of bulk materials, problems that have plagued these industries for years.

The new CFI facility includes a full-time staff of 12, including scientists, engineers and technicians.

CFI has both the scientific instruments and the full-scale materials handling equipment to test bulk materials and prototype components under simulated operating conditions. Included in CFI are laboratories for the analysis and testing of characteristics and performance of metals, polymers and bulk materials; an environmental lab for accelerated aging; and a process simulation area that features full-scale material handling equipment including a full-scale recirculating three-belt conveyor system for testing both bulk materials and equipment prototypes.

Martin Engineering is the first in the industry to take this basic science first approach to improving the handling of bulk materials.

Edwin H. Peterson, Martin Engineering’s chairman of the board, said, “The Center for Bulk Materials Handling Innovation represents a major commitment to the industries we serve. Our research partners will benefit from a better understanding of the characteristics of their bulk materials, and how they should be handled. This will lead to new technologies that make bulk materials handling cleaner, safer and more productive.”

The center will also offer education for industry personnel — management, engineering, operations, and maintenance staff — in how material handling systems work and how they can work better. CFI features dedicated training resources, including a state-of-the art, 44-seat training room and a video conference center. The facility also includes an observation deck where visitors can view material and equipment testing underway in the facility’s laboratories and on the recirculating conveyor system.

Founded in 1944, Martin Engineering is the world leader in making bulk materials handling cleaner, safer, and more productive. Headquartered in Neponset,  Martin Engineering has operations in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and United Kingdom.