Automobile and Engine Scientific Research Institute

(NAMI), a central research institute under the jurisdiction of the USSR Ministry of the Automobile Industry. The institute elaborates the design of automobiles and tests them. It was originally established in Moscow as the Automobile Scientific Laboratory under the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) in 1918. In 1930 the division of the institute working on diesel construction was set up as the independent Diesel Research Institute (subsequently TsNIDI); the division working on aircraft engine construction became the Central Institute for the Construction of Aircraft Motors (TsIAM). In 1946 the tractor division of the institute was transformed into the Tractor Research Institute (NATI).

The Automobile and Engine Scientific Research Institute works on the theory and design of automobiles and their units, design and research work on automobile engines, testing of automobiles, development of types of running gears for cross-country automobiles, research on the latest construction materials, and development of testing equipment and instruments for research work in automobile construction. The institute develops promising standard prototypes of passenger cars, trucks, and buses and conducts technological and economic research. The institute publishes Trudy (Works; since 1920) and branch standard specifications. It has a graduate school. The institute was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1940.