Textiles touch today’s world in
every sphere. The most obvious use of textiles is the clothes we wear, but in
addition textiles are found in drapery, upholstery and other furnishings. Going
even further, textiles are used extensively in automobiles, aircraft,
spacecraft, ships and boats. Medical textiles include a whole range of uses,
such as hernia meshes, artificial knee caps and other prosthetic devices, heart
valves etc. Textiles are used in the construction industry, as geo-textiles to
prevent soil erosion and in diverse other ways. The Sri Lankan garment industry
is the largest export industry in Sri Lanka, with a major portion of the
nation’s export revenue coming through this industry. The curriculum of the
textile engineering course has been tailored to gear the student to face the
challenges of this industry with confidence and contribute towards moving our industry on the hi-tech,
upmarket route. The industry caters to a worldwide market, and the resulting
challenges due to the changes in the global scene, together with the need to
integrate information technology, communication and management skills, make
textile engineering one of the most challenging disciplines available.
Career Opportunities
Being the largest foreign exchange
earning industry in the country, the garment industry of Sri Lanka employs over
350,000 personnel. To date the Department has produced more than 900 graduates,
most of whom are gainfully employed in the industry, and making no small
contribution to the growth of the industry. There are ample career
opportunities for graduates of the Department in the Apparel industry and its
related feeder industries. Career opportunities are also available in other
textile based industries in the country, and overseas, as well as in quality
audit firms and in academia. Graduates holding B.Sc. Engineering in textile
& clothing are able to step into any postgraduate degree program in reputed
universities worldwide with many of our graduates having obtained postgraduate
degrees not only in textile and apparel engineering & management but also
in many other areas such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, computer
science.