Ashok R. Garde

After taking his degree in textile technology from the University of Bombay (Mumbai) in 1957 at 21 years, Mr. Ashok Raghunath Garde joined ATIRA ? Ahmedabad Textile Industry?s Research Association. His work at this premier cooperative research institute turned out to be multifaceted: starting with applied research in spinning and weaving, he became a well- accepted consultant and trainer in technical and managerial areas for cotton based textile mills. Two ?ATIRA Silver Jubilee Monographs? which he wrote together with his senior Mr. T.A. Subramanian in 1974, based on the consultation and research work done at ATIRA, made his name known in the textile field in India and abroad. Mr. Garde has contributed to 9 more books, conceptualized TABLETS - Textile Association BookLETS for continued education, and edited Spinning TABLETS. He was Honorary Editor of the Journal of the Textile Association for over 21 years. He has published over 260 papers, including 14 in German, and has presented papers at over 110 conferences, several of them overseas. In 1990, he became the 5th Director of ATIRA. He was fortunate to be able to exploit available opportunities to turn around ATIRA, with the help of his senior colleagues, in a short span of 7 years.