On July 19, 2024, the annual presentation of the Stichting de Maere Award took place in the main building of the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede. From a number of high quality candidates, Louise Kirsten was chosen and she received the Maere Award 2024 from Marie Anne Roozen, chair of the foundation.
“Louise Kirsten is an international student from Germany, who started studying at Saxion in sep 2020. Immediately after having started her studies she became facinated by the world of textiles and her eager spirit made her absorb all the new knowledge immediately. Having done an internship in New York combined with an exchange minor in Japan, she really managed to understand the international dimensions of the textiles industry. Besides during her studies she wanted do more than just studying and when asked to join the FTT sustainability commitee she immediately said yes, since she wanted to impact the fashion & textiles industry in a positive way. In that role she has managed to represent the crucial voice of the new generation of professionals in the FTT education program leading up to the Sustainable Higher Education certification (or DHO in Dutch = Duurzaam Hoger Onderwijs).
During her graduation period she further delved into the topic of sustainability and researched the impact of household washing on recycled lyocell fibers at the Saxion Circular Textiles Lab. A rather technical assignment that she finished with grade of 9! Now that she is graduated cum laude she is ready to move on and want to even deepen her knowledge of textiles by starting up a masters program in the US.
We wish her nothing but the best in doing so and truly see her as a sustainable ambassador for FTT and the textiles industry, not just in the Twente region, but beyond that internationally!
Louise, we look forward to your future endeavours and hope you stay in touch with us. Congratulations!”
