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KIRDI WESTERN REGION CENTRE (KWRC)

KIRDI WESTERN REGION CENTRE (KWRC) 

KIRDI Western Region Centre (KWRC) is the Institute’s industrial research and development hub in western Kenya. It is located in Kisumu County and has the mandate to support industrial development in western Kenya. KWRC offers a range of services in industrial research and development, capacity building; product development, testing and analysis. These services are offered within the five centres namely; Natural Product Research Centre (NP-RC), Agri-Food Processing Technology Research Centre (AFPT-RC), Laboratory Services Centre (LSC), Electro-Mechanical and Energy Resources Research Centre (EMER-RC) and Leather Development Research Centre (LD-RC).

LEATHER DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE (LD-RC) 

LD-RC supports leather industrial entrepreneurs through technology transfer in value addition of hides and skins and enhances crafting skills of leather through training and incubation programs. Through incubation program in leather goods, knowledge on footwear production, leather goods, and leather apparel can easily be transferred. The leather crafts workshop is furnished with the latest technology to support leather artisans to produce leather goods. LD-RC also has a well-equipped leather laboratory that tests physical parameters of leather such as cracking, tensile strength, water vapor permeability, water resistance (insole), abrasion and shrinkage. 

 

LABARATORY SERVICES CENTRE (LSC) 

The objective of LSC is to enhance quality and productivity in local industries with particular focus on MSMEs to enable them attain and sustain international competitiveness. KWRC provides services in LSC on cost recovery basis. The centre is equipped with high-end laboratory equipment capable of supporting research and development activities, and providing services including analytical testing and quality control. Some of the areas that the centre focuses on include analysis of food, feed, water, waste water, industrial chemicals, agro-chemicals and liquid and solid biofuels.

 

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTRE(EMER-RC) 

EMER-RC provides engineering and energy services through engineering design and fabrication of machine and machine components, equipment/plant design layout and installation, electrical system design and installation, development of renewable/ green energy technologies and promotion of clean cooking fuels and technologies. EMER-RC specializes in the conversion of agricultural biomass to produce green energy. The Research Centre has a biomass briquetting machine, which produces briquettes from agricultural by-products such as rice husks, groundnut shells, coconut shells, bagasse, paddy straw and maize cobs.

 

NATURAL PRODUCTS RESEARCH CENTRE (NP-RCs)

NP-RCs key focus areas are on phytochemistry research and its application in pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, agrichemicals, industrial chemicals and nutraceutical industries. The centre also undertakes product development, business incubation and technology transfer through common manufacturing service.

 

AGRI-FOOD PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH CENTRE (AFPT-RC)

AFPT-RC conducts applied market-oriented research in food processing, preservation, safety, and storage. The overall goal of the AFPT-RC is to assist in the region’s development through provision of opportunities for industrial enterprises in food industry and application of cost-effective and environmentally-friendly food processing technologies. The research centre is equipped with state of art facility for research and incubation services.