Shine in field of leather technology
Deepkamal Kaur

THOUGH leather technology is primarily used in manufacturing footwear, it is also used for designing accessories like purses, jackets, bags, hand gloves and belts, sports goods and even saris.

In view of the growth and employment potential of this sector, the industrialists of this town had approached the then Chief Minister, late Beant Singha, to start a four-year B.Tech course in leather technology at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (then called Dr B.R. Ambedkar Regional Engineering College), Jalandhar. The NIT is the only institute in north India and one of the seven institutions in India offering a degree in the subject.
Finally, the four-year degree programme was started in August 1995, in collaboration with a local branch of Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Chennai.

Since the collaboration with the CLRI expires in 2006, the department is gearing up to set up its own laboratories. It is currently equipped with a variety of machines, including scuff-resistant testers, heat resistant testers, finish film adhesion testers, flexometers, water vapour testers, spectrophotometer and auto-titrators. The department has also recently received a grant of Rs 50 lakh from the World Bank for the purchase of hi-tech equipment like tanning drums, biological oxygen demand (BOD) incubator, and embossing machine.

The B.Tech curriculum deals with leather processing, applications of biochemistry and biotechnology, leather product designing and development using computer software, basic sciences and engineering courses.

The students are given practical knowhow in leather processing, leather testing, leather machinery, footwear technology, garment and goods technology, byproducts utilisation, process control and automation, tannery waste management, making computer-aided graphics of leather products, safety and occupational health hazards, quality management, organisation and management of industry.
The department takes 20 students in the B.Tech course through centralised counselling of candidates who have appeared in the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination.

The department has also recently started a three-year M.Tech course, which covers four theory papers in the first semester followed by a research project in the next five semesters. The course was initially started in affiliation with Punjab Technical University (PTU) but now the Board of Studies and the Academic Council of the NIT determine the curriculum and its other academic matters. Earlier, the students underwent a six-month training in the sixth semester but now they get 10 weeks of training—first, four weeks after the fourth semester and then six weeks after the sixth semester.

The course offers bright job prospects to leather technologists in the industry as well as for further research. One can work as a technologist and manager in the leather processing industry, as a marketing and technical sales executive in a leather company or as a product designer. The students who complete B.Tech and want to pursue higher education can apply for M.Tech in leather technology, footwear technology, biotechnology, chemical engineering and environmental engineering.