Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology

National laboratory site in Nilore, Islamabad

The Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology (PINSTECH) is a federally funded research and development laboratory in Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan. The site was designed by the American architect Edward Durell Stone and its construction was completed in 1965. It has been described as "[maybe] the most architecturally stunning physics complex in the world". In response to the war with India in 1971, the lab was repurposed as a primary weapons laboratory from its original civilian mission.

The Directorate of System and Services (DSS, headed by Dr. Matiullah, consists of 5 research divisions that are listed below:

Health Physics Division (HPD) The Health Physics Division (HPD) was established in 1965 by the small team of health physicists. Founded as a group, it was made a division of PINSTECH in 1966. The division heavily involves its research in medical physics and using nuclear technology in medical and agricultural sciences. Nuclear Engineering Division (NED) The Nuclear Engineering Division (NED, headed by Dr. Masood Iqbal, is one of the most prestigious and well known Division of Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH). The Division was established in 1965 with the objective to develop technical expertise mainly in the area of Nuclear Reactor Technology. The NED has been used to provide technical assistance and training to the field of reactor technology. Electronics Maintenance Division (EMD) The Electronics Division (ED, headed by Mr. Hameed, was formally established in 1967, recognizing its important role in scientific research and development at PINSTECH. The Division has rendered valuable service to the scientific effort by carrying out maintenance of scientific equipment and development of electronic instruments for use in research and development projects. In 1989, the ED was involved in the upgrade program of the PARR I Reactor led by PAEC chairman Munir Ahmad Khan. The ED had supplied and developed electronic material and system for the PARR I Reactor, and had successfully converted PARR I to utilize HEU fuel into LEU fuel. An outstanding achievement ED was the design and engineering of nuclear instrumentation of research reactor ( PARR 1) which required a very high degree of sophistication and reliability. General Services Division (GSD) The General Services Division (GSD) is responsible for the routine operational research, maintenance repairs of the laboratories, upkeep and development of engineering services such as civil, electrical, mechanical workshops, air conditioning as well as water supply to PINSTECH and annexed labs. Computer Division (CD) Computer Division (CD) was established in January 1980 with an aim to provide service and support to the researchers and scientists of PINSTECH in the area of computer hardware and software. Although computer division is still providing computer hardware and software services but it has gradually shifted its activities from being only a service provider division to an important design and development division.

The Directorate of Technology (D TECH) consists of 3 divisions that are Materials Division (MD), Isotope Application Division (IAD), and the Isotope Production Division (IPD). This is currently overseen by Dr. Gulzar Hussain Zahid, Chief Engineer. Materials Division (MD) Materials Division (MD) was established in 1973, with aim of to provide technical assistance to other PAEC's projects on development, production and characterization of materials. Isotope Application Division (IAD) The Isotope Application Division (IAD) was established in PINSTECH by Dr. Naeem Ahmad Khan in early 1971. Having known as the problem solver in the institute, the IAD is responsible for solving the problems in Isotope Hydrolog, Environmental Pollution, Non Destructive Testing, Industrial Applications, Life Sciences, and Isotope Geology. IAD also extends expert services to solve relevant problems faced by the industrial sector and different organizations. Isotope Production Division (IPD) The Isotope Production Division (IPD) It contains Molly Group, Generator Production group, Kit production Group. IPD also involves in modification of exiting isotope production facility.

The Directorate of Coordination, headed by Engr. Iqbal Hussain Khan, is an administrative directorate which consists of 3 technical support divisions. Computation, Information, Communication Technologies (CICT)/Management Information System (MIS) Division, The Scientific Information Division (SID), Programme Coordination Division (PCD) are included in this division. Computation Information & Communication Technologies Division/Management Information Systems (MISD) CICT/MIS division headed by Dr. Syed Zubair Ahmad was established in 1980 for developing computation and information technologies infrastructure at PINSTECH. Initially mainframe computer systems like VAX/11 780 were deployed to provide computational support to the scientific community at PINSTECH. Later on with the advent of distributed computing technologies, numerous distribute systems were deployed to achieve higher processing and storage capacity than mainframe computers. These include Data and Compute clusters, grids, clouds and applications. Data acquisition systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and advanced network architectures are also developed and deployed. Scientific Information Division (SID) The Scientific Information Division (SID, headed by Dr. Ishtiaq Hussain Bokhari, was established in PINSTECH in 1966. It was upgraded into a full fledged division in 1984. SID is the central source of scientific and technical information not only for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission but also for other scientific organizations and universities in the country and is responsible for the efficient acquisition, storage, retrieval and dissemination of Scientific and Technical information in support of the PAEC program.

Numbers Name Timeline of Directors Alma Mater Field Educational Background 1 Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry 1965–1970 University of Cambridge (Cavendish Laboratory) Nuclear physics Ph. D 2 Abdus Salam 1970–1971 Imperial College Theoretical physics Ph. D 3 Ishfaq Ahmad 1971–1976 Université de Montréal (Montreal Laboratory) Nuclear physics D. Sc. 4 Munir Ahmad Khan 1976–1977 North Carolina State University (Argonne National Laboratory) Nuclear engineering Master of Science (M. Sc.) 5 Naeem Ahmad Khan 1977–1984 University of Manchester Nuclear physics Ph. D 6 Iqbal Hussain Qureshi 1986–1991 University of Tokyo Nuclear chemistry Ph. D 7 Noor Muhammad Butt 1991–1996 University of Birmingham Nuclear physics D. Sc. 8 Hameed Ahmad Khan 1996–2000 University of Birmingham Nuclear, Space, and reactor physics D. Sc. and Ph. D 9 Mustansar Jehangir 2000–2005 University of Birmingham Nuclear chemistry Ph. D 10 Masud Ahmad 2005–2007 Imperial College Theoretical physics Ph. D 11 Ansar Pervaiz 2007–2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Nuclear engineering Ph. D 12 Syed Jamshed Hussain Zaidi 2010–Present University of Peshawar, Forschungszentrum Jülich Nuclear chemistry Ph. D