Smart Young Woman - TRC's Nicola MealToowoomba Regional Council engineering officer and USQ engineering student Nicola Mead has become one of Queensland’s Smart Young Women in the Smart State Awards 2008 announced last week.
Nicola won the Undergraduate Students – Engineering Award. .The awards honour women’s outstanding achievements in non-traditional areas such as science, engineering and information communication technology.
Nicola’s project investigating domestic water consumption forms part of her USQ course work. She completes her Bachelor of Environmental Engineering and Bachelor of Business (majoring in management and leadership) degrees in November.
The award recognised Nicola’s work devising remote transmission of recorded data. The pilot study involving 10 Toowoomba homes is being co-ordinated with other officers. A similar water consumption study at the Gold Coast is being expanded to around 200 homes, but it does not involve remote data transmission.
The pilot study lets council officers use a smart metering system to record detailed information about the volume of water used in different areas of the home. Data collected will allow council to evolve water demand management initiatives.
Nicola completed schooling at Toowoomba’s Fairholme College after emigrating with her family from Marondera, south-east of Harare, in Zimbabwe.
Deputy Mayor and Water Services portfolio spokesperson Cr Paul Antonio is delighted with the recognition. Her research offered long-term benefits for council’s water demand management with the potential to reduce the demand on potable water supplies.
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