Kenneth F. Martinez, MSEE, CIH

Field Studies Team Leader
Nanotechnology Research Center
Education and Information Division
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Kenneth F. Martinez currently serves as a Senior Industrial Hygienist with the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC). He received a BS in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of North Carolina and is certified in the practice of industrial hygiene. During his 31 year NIOSH career, he has served as a research engineer assessing and developing engineering techniques for control of worker exposure to harmful chemical and biological agents, and an industrial hygiene team lead conducting and coordinating hazard evaluation studies. More recently, he has served as the Acting Associate Director for the NIOSH Emergency Preparedness and Response Office and as the Deputy Director of the NIOSH Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies. Martinez primary area of research during these years was bioaerosol exposure, characterization, and health effects. Since 2001, he served in numerous CDC field leadership roles including the World Trade Center collapse, the response to the anthrax letters terrorist event of 2001, international activities in response to SARS, response activities in 2005 to Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, the 2007 extremely drug resistant tuberculosis case, the 2010 New Hampshire African drum anthrax case, and the recent gulf oil spill. Mr. Martinez is now the team leader for the NTRC field research team whose primary objective is to assess workplace processes, materials, and control technologies associated with nanotechnology. He has produced, as author or co-author, 35 scientific manuscripts that have been published in peer-reviewed journals or as chapters in published books. He has also given over 100 oral presentations on scientific research. These presentations have included platform sessions at scientific professional meetings and as an instructor of a course to occupational safety and health professionals.