Savo Gjirja (born 11 December 1945, in Kavajë) is an Albanian research engineer who worked for the Volvo Corporation on the development of an ethanol fueled version of the car maker's TD73 diesel engine.
In September 1972 he was appointed a lecturer of the scientific teaching staff at the same Engineering Faculty.
From 1979 to 1983 he worked and studied as a researcher in the Department of Energy Conversion at the University of Technology "Chalmers" of Gothenburg, Sweden, where he defended his PhD dissertation.
Four years later, Savo returned to Albania and began work at the Polytechnic University of Tirana, where he was appointed in charge of the Machinery department at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (1984).
For his work, the Higher Attestation Commission awarded him the title of Professor in 1987, while the Presidium of the Albanian National Assembly honoured him by awarding the Order "Naim Frashëri" In 1991 Gjirja was invited by the Swedish Institute and the Department of "Thermo and Fluid Dynamics" at Chalmers University of Technology to collaborate with other scientists on further research to develop methods of using ethanol as an alternative engine fuel.