Written By
Dr. Engr. Ayub Nabi Khan

Textiles are the basic needs of human being. From the dawn of the industrial revolution to today's age of high technology, textile manufacturing has been a leading industry in the world. Today, people don't realise how much demand for employment there is in the textile industry and those industries which use textile materials, i,e. biomedical, aerospace, automotive and sporting goods. Due to shortage of textile graduates, almost all get three to five job offers.

The textile industry has been playing a dominant role for the development of the economy of Bangladesh . Export oriented readymade garment industry of the country has attained phenomenal growth over the last decade. It was enormous potentials for earning foreign exchange. Its contribution to the economy of Bangladesh is as follows:

Contribution to GDP 5%
Accounts 77% of the national export earning
Provides employment to more than 3.8 million people which is about 64% of the country's employment in manufacturing.

Following table shows the status of textile sector in Bangladesh .

Beside these there are 148350 nos handloom units, 1065 nos specialized power loom units and 85 nos terry towel units.

At present the activities of textile sector of Bangladesh are broadly divided into the following :

A) Manufacturing / Processing industry under public and private ownerships.
B) Service provider and Trade promotion Institutions and Organizations under Private Sector.
C) Textile Education and Human Resource Development Organizations
D) Government Agencies and Organizations directly involved with policies legitimacies, financing etc.
E) Textile Wholesale markets and retailing outlets.

Demand and supply projection: (Approximate)

Demand in 2003-04: Fabric- 4784.7 Million Meters & Yarn- 797.4 Million Kgs. Demand & Supply gap in 2003-04: Fabric- 2800 Million Meters & Yarn- 300 Million Kgs.
Demand in 2010: Fabric- 5453 Million Meters & Yarn- 909 Million Kgs.
Demand Supply gap in 2010: Fabric- 1000 Million Meters & Yarn- 270 Million Kgs.

The word ‘Textiles' originally refers to a woven fabric but the term is now applied to fibres, filaments, yarns (national or man-made) and products obtained from them. For example threads, cords, ropes, braids, lace, embroidery, nets and fabrics made by weaving, knitting, felting, bonding and tufting are textiles.

Textiles are as familiar as dresses, sheets, draperies and upholstery, and as high-tech as circuit boards for communications satellites and computers, lightweight fabrics for airplane wings, heat shields for spacecrafts and suits used by astronauts. Textiles can also be used as medical textiles, automotive products, protective clothing and sports goods.

The textile engineer is the professional who manages the entire textile enterprise that is responsible for wide range of products ranges from basic clothing to high performance textiles. The engineer has primary responsibility for the engineering design of new products and processes, quality control etc.

Just as mechanical and civil engineers who use steel and concrete beams; Textile engineering use fibers and yarns as building materials. The unique properties of textile materials have created a strong demand for this specialty.

Textile engineers can work in the areas like Production, Quality control, Machine maintenance, Sales and Marketing, Procurement, Management Information System (MIS) of textile industry, Research and development, quality control and testing organization, High performance textiles (Biomedical, Protective clothing, Automotive products, sports goods), Education institutions, Banks, Customs, Trading house etc.