IIT Delhi establishes chair to promote teaching, research in smart textiles

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi alumnus Manish Singhal has endowed the ‘Manish Singhal Chair’ to promote excellence and leadership in teaching and research in the Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering with an emphasis on smart textiles. 

Manish Singhal, (BTech in Chemical Engineering, 1994 batch) is the Managing Director of a Jaipur-based company that manufactures and distributes textile products 

Prof RS Rengasamy, Head of the Department, Textile and Fibre Engineering, IIT Delhi, said the establishment of ‘Manish Singhal Chair’ would facilitate wider and deeper interactions between the industry, faculty and students and promote smart textiles in the country 

What are smart textiles? 

Smart textiles refer to specialised textile materials that have built-in functionality to serve a special purpose over and above the usual functions of apparel. It is an emerging area that is taking applications of textiles to new territories of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), medicine, defence, space, and manufacturing. It aims at adding electronic functionality in textiles for sensing, communication, energy harvesting and storage, and creating highly protective apparel against microbes and radiations. 

Prof Ashwini K Agrawal from the Textile and Fibre Engineering Department said, “I am really happy to learn that Manish Singhal has taken initiative to encourage and recognise research in smart textiles at IIT Delhi. Several faculty members at the Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering have been doing pioneering work in this area for the past several years. SMITA Research Lab, which is now a Centre of Excellence in Smart Textiles, has been instrumental in taking some of the technologies to the market.” 

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