The Higher Education Review

Between the years 2013 and 2014, the textile export was at $28.53 billion and it has grown close to 15 percent in the previous year. The reason behind the constant increase in the export has been due to the advent of machines which are able to produce products at a much faster pace in the industry. This has been made possible due to the introduction of formal education in textile. "Despite the textile industry growing at a phenomenal rate after the independence of our country, there was no educational institute catering to the evolution of the textile industry and 35 years ago the experts in textile from Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra established DKTE Society of Textile and Engineering Institute (DKTES TEI)," says Dr. P.V. Kadole, Principal.

Although the institute is known primarily for its textile engineering programs, it also offers programs in other streams and is one of the favored destinations of students in the region who wish to pursue their dream of becoming an engineer. Most of the programs at the DKTES TEI Institute have secured NBA accreditation which shows the quality of education that the institute is imparting to its students and also the quality of research it is conducting.

"We provide consultancy services to the Government of India, the Industry and various research organizations," says Dr. Kadole. In order to coordinate better with the industry and the government, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

has selected DKTES TEI as the IIPC (Industry Institute Partnership Cell) for collaborative activities of mutual benefits. Apart from being selected for the Ichalkaranji Textile Development Cluster project to support the local textile industry, the institute has been selected for prestigious projects like Center of Excellence for Nonwovens, Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) - Centers of Relevance and Excellence (CORE) and Technology Business Incubators.

The Center of Excellence for Non Wovens established by DKTE provides major services such as Testing, Training and Education, Research and Development and Technical Consultancy, Product and Prototype development, support to business start-ups and standardization and regulatory measures. By possessing such a Center, the textile students are able to see the practical applications of the knowledge that is being taught to them. "By being selected for these research projects, our students are able to gain crucial information and utilize the same when they participate or pursue research activities," says Dr. Kadole.

To carry out these research activities the institute has setup over 81 laboratories and 6 workshops possessing ultra modern equipment. "We have been able to establish all our facilities due to the funding that we receive from the industry, the government and also through the TEQIP funding provided by the World Bank," says Dr. Kadole. In collaboration with Bosch Rexroth India, the institute has built an 'Industrial Automation Lab' for Research and Development and Training.

DKTES TEI constantly collaborates with leading foreign universities for joint research projects which raises level the quality of research conducted by the institute. Some of the foreign universities are Eastern Michigan University, North Carolina State University, Kenyatta University, The School of Technology - Indonesia, Honchschule Nierderrhin Univeristy - Germany, and Chienkuo Technology University - Taiwan.

The Institute has signed MoUs with companies such as Bharat Forge, Infosys, IBM, Hoyt Engineering Solution, Smit Textile - Italy, Bosch Rexroth India, Rieter Ingolstadt GmbH � Germany, Texas Instruments and others. The feedback from these institutions on the students of DKTES TEI has been impressive as they have won several awards from these universities and companies. Darshil Jain, Akash Kamtam and Sneha Galage who were pursuing their bachelors in textile were awarded the Italian Textile Technology Award 2014 by the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT) and Italian Ministry of Economic Development, during the inauguration ceremony of Italian Technology Training Center at DKTES TEI.

With the collaborations and the MoUs signed, the institute has been sending its faculty members abroad for research activities, training and workshops, thus improving their skills and knowledge which will be useful when teaching or guiding the students in class and during research activities respectively. "While most of our faculty members are industry experienced professionals and are able to impart knowledge more practically to the students, they require to pursue research and higher studies to understand how unique solutions can be provided to a wide array of problems that the industry faces and hence we send them for training and development," says Dr. Kadole.

As the institution has a close bond with the industry, DKTES TEI has achieved 80 percent placement consistently while the remaining 20 percent choose to pursue their higher studies and research careers with other national or international institutions. The major recruiters of DKTES TEI are Grasim Industries Ltd, Mayur Suitings, Kirloskar Toyoda Text. MC. L, Voltas Limited, Reliance Industries Ltd, Rieter India Ltd, Raymonds Ltd, Cummins India, IBM, Wipro, TCS, Infosys, Microsoft, Mahindra Tractors. The institute hopes to provide the industry with more research oriented engineers who utilize research as an option for future problem solving.