MIDLAND, Mich., Aug. 12, 2022 – Dow (NYSE: Dow) today announced four leaders have been recognized by the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC) with awards in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) excellence.
The awards are distributed by Great Minds in STEM (GMiS), an organization that seeks to highlight and honor the achievements of the nation’s best and brightest Hispanic engineers, scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists and technology experts.
HENAAC award winners recognize STEM professionals who are leaders, innovators and represent the best and brightest minds our nation has to offer.
Luminary honorees represent professionals in STEM who initiate, collaborate, and lead key programs and research within their companies. These individuals have made significant contributions to the Hispanic technical community as leaders and role models.
HENAAC Award Winners
Engineer of the Year
Fernando Signorini
Vice President Operations
U.S. Gulf Coast; Site Director Texas Operations
In his current role, Ferando leads the largest integrated chemical manufacturing complex in the western hemisphere — Dow’s operations on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Fernando is responsible for 15,000 employees and contractors working within the region’s manufacturing sites, business center, and R&D hub – this is an incredibly value-creating site at world scale. Under Fernando’s leadership of the sites and region, any metric that one would look at – production volume, profitability, investment, safety, talent acquisition – will show that this is one of the most exciting times in the history of the site.
Outstanding Technical Achievement – Industry
Diego Cristancho
Research Scientist
Global Process Technical leader, Amines
As a research scientist, Diego leads platforms delivering gas treating innovations, a chemical process technology that enables emerging decarbonization technologies that are vital to the development of future global energy infrastructure. He is also very active in Dow’s Hispanic & Latin Network (HLN) employee resource group where he leads initiatives that help recognize Hispanic and Latin talent at Dow.
GMiS Luminaries
Nicholas Corzo
Senior Production Engineer
Dow St. Charles Operation, Ethylene Oxide
As a senior production engineer, Nicholas works cross-functionally to maintain current production rates and drive improvement efforts across Dow’s operations in St. Charles, Louisiana. In 2021, Nick’s key contributions included leading and resolving several major root cause investigations, helping prevent production downtime in the future. He also played a key role during the recovery and restart of the St. Charles facility following Hurricane Ida in the Fall of 2021. Nicholas is an active member of HLN’s local steering team, focusing on initiatives that promote talent development.
Elva Lugo
Research Scientist
Solution, Gas & Licensing Polyethylene Product R&D
As a research scientist, Elva leads cross-functional teams to develop the next generation of pipe polyethylene resins. Elva is passionate about mentoring upcoming talent in STEM. She works with several organizations like the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Passport to Dow program, both are dedicated to empowering upcoming Hispanic and Latin students in their STEM pursuits, strengthening Dow’s talent pipeline.
“The accomplishments of these individuals showcase the power diversity has in fueling the innovative solutions that set Dow apart from competition,” shared Mauro Gregorio, executive sponsor of Dow’s HLN employee resource group and business president of Performance Materials and Coatings. “It is an honor to have our commitment to advance, recruit, and celebrate Hispanic talent consistently recognized through the prestigious HENAAC Awards. Congratulations to Fernando, Diego, Nicholas, and Elva for their commitment to excellence and uplifting the communities around them.”
All 2022 honorees will be recognized during the 34th Annual GMiS Conference happening during October 5-7, 2022, in Pasadena, California.
Numerous Dow employees have been honored with HENAAC Awards over the years, including Mauro Gregorio (2014), Ruth Figueroa (2016), Jose Obregon (2016), Andre Argenton (2017), Mauricio Guerra (2018), Carlos Villa (2019), Izabel Assis (2020), Leonardo Lopez (2020), Eliezer Maldonado (2020), Lidaris San Miguel Rivera (2021), and Lauren Jackson (2021).
Learn more about Great Minds in STEM and the HENAAC Awards at www.greatmindsinstem.org/professionals/henaac-awards.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership to achieve profitable growth and deliver a sustainable future. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates 104 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $55 billion in 2021. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
For further information contact:
Ilse Granados Lerma
igranadoslerma@dow.com