Woman said first to be seeking Ph.D. in mine engineering

Louise Michaud, of Cornwall, Ont., believed to be the first woman in North America to be enrolled in a Ph.D. mining engineering program, has won a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship from the Canadian Mineral Industry Education Foundation.

Ms Michaud, who is pursuing her degree at Queen’s University, Kingston, has as her thesis topic Development of computer software for mining methods. She is the first woman to win a post-graduate scholarship from the Foundation.

“Basically,” she says, “I’m developing ways to use the computer as a tool to take over the tedious, time- consuming part of engineering design. This allows the engineer to concentrate on the decision-making aspects of mine planning.”