The Scientific Instrumentation Centre was officially created on 2 January 2003, as a result of a re-structuring in which the continuity of the overall objectives of former LNEC units was privileged.
The creation of those units has always taken into account the notion that the success of a scientific research institution largely depends on its ability to develop different tools, both to characterise the properties of materials and to study the behaviour of physical models and prototypes, by making it possible to analyse their performance and safety, as well as to validate mathematical models.