The COMSATS Nano Tech Lab (NTL), an ISO-9001 certified facility, successfully conducted its first online training course on “Failure Analysis of Engineering Material & Structure.”

The four-day course, held from March 30 to April 02 2026, was a landmark initiative to build critical technical capacity within the COMSATS Member States. 49 professionals and researchers from Ghana, Jordan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Tunisia attended and benefitted from the course.

Sharing his thoughts at the opening session of the training course, Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, Executive Director COMSATS appreciated the interest shown by the member states he expressed gratitude to the course trainers, Professor Fahim Hashmi and Engineer Abid Hussain Qureshi, both of whom possess a high level of expertise in the specialized field of nanotechnology and its applications. The Executive Director noted that the trainers had meticulously designed the course and its contents for the benefit of the participants. He expressed satisfaction on the establishment of Nanotech Laboratory at the COMSATS Secretariat for a noble cause to share knowledge and create a hands-on research facility for PhD students, academics, and researchers. He wished the participants a beneficial training and a great learning experience.

The training course was designed to provide a practical understanding of failure analysis, bridging conceptual knowledge of structural design and engineering materials with real-world industrial applications.

The curriculum covered a comprehensive range of topics, including the fundamentals of engineering materials, preservation and preparation of samples, mechanical aspects and macroscopic fracture features, fracture modes and micro-fractographic features, and structural design philosophies. Participants also gained insights from live lab demonstrations, including the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and benefited from detailed case studies.

The contents covered during the course have applications in Oil & Gas, Power & Energy, Aerospace & Aviation, Automotive, Manufacturing, Marine & Offshore, Construction & Infrastructure and Defense sectors.