Marianna Kaloutsi

By the end of my master’s degree in chemical engineering, I was looking into options to further widen my engineering skillset and prepare as best as possible for the real-life world of engineering. Once I encountered the EngD program of Process and Equipment Design at TU Delft, I had no second thoughts about what I wanted to do to conclude my academic journey and, at the same time, kick-start my professional one.

More than three years now after I made that decision to join the program, I can happily say it was the best one for my career path. The EngD program gave me multiple opportunities to enrich my technical and interpersonal skills, through courses and design projects, both within the university but also with industrial partners, offering a smooth transition from a university setting to an industrial one.

This transition and skill upgrading was facilitated by an intense first-year curriculum that includes advanced courses tailor-made for EngD trainees. This is the time to get all the necessary technical background to tackle the engineering problems that will arise during the design projects that follow, but also throughout my professional career. 

Looking back, the Group Design Project and the Individual Desing project are the core of the program and my most valuable experience in the EngD. That’s when I got to practice everything I have learned, under the guidance of academic and industrial supervisors:  project and stakeholder management, co-ordination, multitasking, process design and integration. During my Individual Design Project, I gained valuable insights in hydrogen and energy transition technologies, through an 18-month assignment at Shell. 

After my graduation, I immediately started working in the process development field, as a Product Development Engineer at Technip Energies, where I am utilizing the knowledge and skills acquired during my two-year EngD journey and facilitating the energy transition. 

I am extremely grateful to the program that gave me the chance to grow personally and professionally, but also meet amazing people from all over the world, collaborate, create friendships and share this journey together. TU Delft in general, but also the program specifically, is a very welcoming place, that can be considered as family now, which I will cherish forever.