LIV.INNO student Katie Ferraby completed her six-month industry placement with George Huang at AllGreen Energy, and it proved to be an extremely valuable and rewarding experience.
AllGreen Energy is a UK-based social enterprise focused on reducing energy costs with green energy solutions; the business wants to increase the amount of sustainable and renewable energy but also stop energy loss and help people achieve net zero targets. General mismanagement of current resources is a large part of energy waste and pollution and so if AllGreen Energy can help with this, many people could benefit without needing to make massive changes to their lives or pay for large unnecessary systems.
Throughout the placement, Katie regularly travelled between Sci-Tech Daresbury, near Warrington, and Liverpool Science Park. These locations were particularly interesting as they were largely co-working environments, with many innovative companies operating in close proximity. This created frequent opportunities for collaboration, and we held a number of productive meetings with neighbouring organisations to explore how our respective expertise, technologies, and designs could be integrated to deliver more effective solutions.
During her time at AllGreen Energy, Katie worked on a wide range of projects that varied significantly in scope, application, and workflow. One such project involved working with farmers in Wales to install large-scale solar panel systems on land traditionally used for agriculture. This project was a valuable learning experience, particularly in terms of communication, as it required addressing long-held views around farming practices and energy generation. Engaging with stakeholders in this way significantly strengthened my interpersonal and professional communication skills.
Another major project Katie contributed to was a scheme in collaboration with Liverpool City Council, aimed at improving the energy efficiency of housing across different regions of Liverpool. The pilot phase focused on the Newsham Park area, where she explored how existing houses could be upgraded. A subsequent phase was planned for the Festival Gardens area, a new development where energy-efficient design principles could be incorporated before construction began.
For this project, Katie undertook several responsibilities. She learned to use a geographic information system software, ArcGIS, which was completely new to her, and worked closely with local authorities, housing providers, and heat network companies. The project followed a “fabricfirst” approach, requiring careful consideration of how to balance commercial viability, homeowner engagement, and maximise energy savings. I was tasked with identifying and mapping electrical transformers across the region and converting a map of Liverpool into a detailed and informative database representing every individual house in the city.
This mapping work became a central focus of Katie’s placement. She gained extensive experience using geometric tools to manipulate spatial data, including splitting complex shapes into a specified number of segments along defined axes. In practice, this meant taking street-level polygon data and dividing it into segments corresponding to individual house UPRNs, aligned with the orientation of the properties. Using this data, she applied solar power calculations based on environmental data across Liverpool to estimate the average annual solar energy potential for each house. This analysis directly informed a business case outlining project delivery and how investors could recover their investment.
In addition, Katie worked on a project with Liverpool Science Park, where AllGreen Energy’s energy management system was installed within the building. This involved monitoring energy usage over a defined period and then implementing controlled changes to assess whether energy losses could be reduced. Katie contributed to the development of the management system itself and helped design the framework for monitoring and analysing building energy performance.
Throughout the placement, Katie worked with a diverse range of professionals, including engineers, software developers, local authorities, investors, and end users. This exposure gave her valuable insight into how multidisciplinary teams operate within the energy sector and how technical solutions must align with economic, regulatory, and social considerations. Overall, this placement allowed Katie to develop a broad set of technical and professional skills. She gained hands-on experience with GIS software, data analysis, and energy modelling, while also improving her understanding of sustainable energy systems and project feasibility. Equally importantly, she strengthened her communication, stakeholder engagement, and problem-solving skills by working with a wide range of partners and real-world constraints. The experience gave her a much clearer understanding of how engineering, data analysis, and business considerations intersect in industry, and it has significantly increased her confidence in applying her academic knowledge to practical, impactful projects.