Nicole is an electrical engineer who graduated in January 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Makerere University, Uganda. Shortly after, she joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to pursue a Ph.D. under the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering with the goal of developing knowledge and contributing to research in clean energy technologies, but most importantly, delivering meaningful engineering solutions to communities based on contextual engineering principles.
Her undergraduate final-year project focused on enhancing solar mini-grid resilience in off-grid areas and culminated in the presentation of a research paper at the IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica Conference in October 2024.
In July 2024, Nicole began working as a junior software project manager at The Dojo Hub, an innovation hub in Uganda, where she served until February 2025. Her role was to collaborate with stakeholders and work closely with a team of developers to build a fully functional Agri-Energy mobile application, now available on the Google Play Store. Nicole has also undertaken solar systems design and installation training with the Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC) under the Integration of On-Grid and Off-Grid Decentralized Renewable Energy Systems Project in Uganda.
Publication
“Implementation of a Unified Power Flow Controller for two interconnected solar mini-grids” IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica Conference 2024, Johannesburg, South Africa, IEEE Xplore digital library
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Schedule 1: Survey Reporting and Deliverables Description
OTM Technology No. 2017-194, titled "Diagnostic Tool for Engineering
Effectiveness in Rural International Societies".
Creator: Ann-Perry Witmer
Brief Description:
The Survey provides a list of 41 questions (rated on 5-point Likert scales)
to evaluate relative influences of critical non-engineering conditions and
guidelines for selection/implementation of technologies within a rural
society. The Survey identifies design and implementation strategies that
enhance engineered infrastructure sustainability and durability.
"Survey Report":
The following information is provided in the Report.
RESULTS
Influence
Community Score
Country Weight
Weighted Score
Cultural
Political
Educational
Technical
Economic
· Column 1 lists the five community influences most likely to affect
design, implementation and acceptance of an engineered infrastructure.
· Column 2 shows the raw scores of each influence for the community, based
upon scores You provided after observing Your client.
· Column 3 draws upon open and free data from World Bank database of World
Development Indicators. Where data are lacking for Your country, those
absences are not included in calculations. Religious composition is
evaluated using open and free Pew Research Center data.
· Column 4 provides a weighted, relative influence score for Your client
community, factoring in national norms to identify the conditions that most
strongly govern your client's approach to an engineered infrastructure.
The following information is also provided: Guidelines for interpreting the
high and low scores of the contextual influences, and Guidelines as to how
to approach the design of the engineering infrastructure.
