Luisa Ferro, who recently graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the School of Engineering, has been awarded Runner-Up in the highly respected ‘North West Student Chemical Engineering Design Project of the Year Award’. This award recognises the best student projects from across the North West of England and celebrates innovative and practical engineering solutions.

Each year, a panel of professionals from the industry selects the top student design projects. This year, Luisa’s project stood out among many entries for its creativity, technical strength, and focus on sustainability.

The awards ceremony took place on 28 March 2025 at the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays. The event began with a keynote speech by Yvonne Baker OBE, CEO of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), who highlighted the importance of working together in the engineering community. The evening also featured a joint dinner with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), showing how collaboration across disciplines can make a big impact.

Luisa’s award-winning project was titled ‘Eco-efficient Manufacture of Acetic Acid: An Integrated Plant Design.’ It focused on designing a large-scale facility to produce acetic acid, a chemical used in products like food additives, medicines, and vinyl acetate, using a modern, environmentally friendly process. Her design included smart solutions like recycling gas, reusing heat, and choosing materials and energy sources that are better for the environment.

Luisa brought together everything she learned during her degree, as well as her hands-on experience during a placement at Nissan Motor Manufacturing, where she worked as a Health & Safety Engineer. That experience helped her understand how to design safe and efficient chemical plants. She also paid close attention to safety, including using explosion-proof (ATEX-rated) equipment and building in emergency shutdown systems. One of her favourite parts was creating the system diagram (P&ID), where she carefully planned every valve and control to make sure the plant would run smoothly.

Expressing what the award meant to her, Luisa said: “I’m truly honoured to have my individual contribution recognised at this prestigious Engineering Excellence Awards event. This award also celebrates the countless evenings my teammate, Yamini Saaran, and I spent in the library working through Aspen Plus and Excel calculations - it’s incredibly rewarding to see that dedication acknowledged. I am deeply grateful to my friends, whose support helped me navigate challenging moments, and to my family for their unwavering encouragement throughout this journey. A special thanks goes to my design project Advisor, Dr Basu Saha, whose insightful guidance, expertise, and constant encouragement were instrumental to the success of my design project. This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without their support.”

Dr Basu Saha, her project advisor and Director of Studies for Chemical Engineering, was full of praise for her achievement: “Luisa approached her design project with exceptional dedication, technical rigour, and creativity. Her ability to integrate sustainability into a complex chemical process while maintaining industrial feasibility is commendable. Her project reflects the high standards we aim to cultivate in our Chemical Engineering programme. Luisa demonstrated a strong grasp of engineering principles and a mature approach to design challenges. Her project outcomes, particularly around innovative, sustainable engineering solutions, showcase her potential as a future leader in the industry. It was a pleasure to supervise Luisa. Her professionalism, drive, and collaborative spirit made this project a success and this recognition is very well deserved.”

Since graduating, Luisa has joined Nissan’s Graduate Scheme and works as a Facility Engineer in the Paint Shop. She’s responsible for keeping essential equipment running smoothly, upgrading systems, and overseeing new installations. With real responsibility in her new role, she finds it especially fulfilling to see her engineering ideas become reality.