JOIN USWeave magic with fibre & cloth
The textile industry is in a period of rapid and revolutionary modernisation and automation, with an increasing need for engineering graduates with skills in engineering, design, chemistry, management, computers, apparel, marketing/sales, and quality control.
What we wear is certainly a part of the huge industry known as textiles. But there is a lot more to textile technology than fashion-grande or otherwise. The industry is peopled by many kinds of professionals, with many kinds of skills. The fashion designer is of course the most visible, as are the models who display a designer’s products. But behind the designer, the key players are the technologists who create new materials for different needs, design and build equipment and create processes for making these materials.
Overview
Textile technology is primarily concerned with textile fibres and their transformation into yarns and fabrics. This transformation involves many stages of manufacturing such as spinning, dyeing, weaving, etc. These stages are by themselves vast subjects. Textile engineering applies scientific and engineering principles to the design and control of all aspects of fibre, textile, and apparel processes, products, and machinery. These include natural and man-made materials, interaction of materials with machines, safety and health, energy conservation, and waste and pollution control. Textile engineers are required to have a broad education that incorporates aspects of many other disciplines.
These disciplines include mechanical, chemical, materials and industrial engineering, as well as fundamental courses such as thermodynamics, materials science, industrial management, applied mechanics, and engineering drawing and design. Emphasis is also laid on textile chemical technology, fibre science technology, technical textile and computer application in textile.
Skills required
Textile engineers need creative skills to succeed in this discipline of engineering. Technical aptitude and analytical skills are also necessary as is the attention to detail.
One must also enjoy working with colours and a knowledge of fabrics would be a bonus. A textile engineer must also be comfortable working in a team and must have good communication skills. It also helps to combine technical and aesthetic skills.
Study route & eligibility
The criteria for joining a BE or BTech course in Textile Engineering is a pass in 10+2 or equivalent exam. Admission for BE/BTech is made on the basis of an entrance examination — a joint entrance exam or JEE for the IITs and a separate state-level and national-level exam for other institutions. The national-level exam, AIEEE, is also conducted for admissions to NITs in India and other prestigious colleges. For MTech courses, one has to qualify the GATE exam. For research, one has to qualify for the NET/JRF entrance examination conducted by UGC and CSIR jointly. There are several opportunities abroad for carrying out research work. The IIT, Delhi is a pioneer institute in the field offering B.Tech/M.Tech/Ph.D programmes.
The basic courses a student can take up at the graduate level include Yarn Manufacturing, Fabric Manufacturing, Wet Processing, Apparel Manufacturing, Textile Management. One can also specialise in Textile Chemical Technology, Fibre Science Technology, Technical Textile and Computer Application in Textile.
Study destinations
Colleges in India for Textile engineering:
Apart from NIT’s and IIT’s, the other colleges and institutions are:
*Institute of Textile Technology, Choudwar, Orissa
*Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani, Haryana
*MLV Textile Institute, Pratap Nagar, Bhilwara
*Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Textile Management, Coimbatore
*Bapuji Institute of Engineering & Technology, Davangere
*PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore
*Zail Singh College of Engineering & Technology, Batinda
*Sri Krishnarajendra Silver Jubilee Technological Institute, Bangalore
*Government Central Textile Institute, Kanpur
*College of Textile Technology, Behrampur, Murshidabad
*College of Textile Technology, Serampore, Distt Hooghly
*MS University, Department of Technology and Engineering, Baroda
*LD College of Engineering, Navarangpura, Ahmedabad
Colleges in USA for Textile Engineering:
*Georgia Tech University
*North Carolina State University
*University of Derby
*University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
*Clemson University
*Auburn University
*Philadelphia Univ
*University of Nebraska
*University of Missouri
*Cornell University
Job prospects
Textile engineering graduates find excellent job opportunities in diverse industrial sectors. These include Process Engineering, Research and Development, Production Control, Technical Sales, Quality Control and Corporate Management through the production supervisory route.
Textile engineers can be employed in handloom sectors and in mechanised sectors as there are a large number of handloom sectors in India. One can find jobs in Industrial Engineering, Product Development, Marketing, Technical Sales, etc.