Plasma Glow Brightens Angora Cottage Industry Future

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PB Jhala is a Mechanical Engineer and an alumnus of Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar. He has spent 38 years in R&D in Textile Engineering at the famous Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) from where he retired as Senior Deputy Director. He has made notable contributions to the development of Textile Machinery, Automation and Control, Information Technology and Nanotechnology Applications in Textiles ete He has published and/or presented more than 100 papers in National and International Conferences. He holds 20 Indian Patents on Textile Mechanisms and Automation. He was awarded British Council Bursary for training at the University of Leeds, UK in the year 1976. Thereafter, he received four National Awards for his contributions in textile machinery. Widely traveled and experienced, PB Jhala has also served as an expert member on several committees of Govt. of India Departments namely DIT, DST, DSIR, TIFAC, and NRDC besides with the UN agencies viz. APCTT and UNDP etc. He acted as Resource Person from India in International Seminar and Expert Group Meeting on Garment Industry at China in 2001.He was specially invited by Ningbo International Science and Technology Exchange Centre, China to give a Keynote Address at the Conference on Industry's Economy Information in the Asia-Pacific at Ningbo in 2002. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India) and an Honorary Fellow of the Textile Associations (India). He is the present incumbent of the John Bissell Research Chair sponsored by Ford Foundation at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and is engaged in cutting edge design-led research in Nanotechnology and Plasma Technology Applications in Textile and Apparel for product innovation and value addition.

Plasma, the fourth state of matter is ubiquitous and omniscient in nature. It is a dominant constituent of the heavens so to say, with the sun, stars and intergalactic medium as plasma manifestations. Plasma has unique properties, as is evident from its free moving electrons, which makes it a good conductor of electricity. Due to this quality, it can be put into several practical applications.

The maiden endeavour of the John Bissell Design Research Chair for Textile and Apparel Design Technology at NID has been to introduce Plasma Technology to the cottage industries manufacturing Angora fibre products. Prof. P.B. Jhala, the present incumbent of this Chair spearheaded several research initiatives in this direction. Through four years of passion and perseverance, he has succeeded in developing an appropriate technology, which provides hope and numerous opportunities to the Angora fibre industry. The application of this technology can bring about considerable improvement in the economic condition of the farmers, who depend on Angora rabbit breeding and such allied activities for their livelihood.

The monograph entitled Plasma Glow Brightens Angora Cottage Industry Future is a noteworthy documentation of the activities initiated by the John Bissell Design Research Chair for Textile and Apparel Design Technology at NID. The Chair has succeeded in bringing out a sound amalgamation of creativity and science. The pioneering technological advances ascribed to it bear testimony to this statement.