Jasna Nuhic receives foundation award

Jasna Nuhic received an award from the Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation for her excellent work on the project "conversion of plastic waste to fuel" . 

Jasna Nuhic receiving the award from the Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation Founder & Chair, Dr. Edhem (Eddie) Custovic

Jasna Nuhic took part in the IEEE Student & Young Professional Congress which took place in Sarajevo from 1-4 December 2016. She took part in the research & development poster presentation session and received an award from the Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation for her excellent work on the project "conversion of plastic waste to fuel". A judging panel of 10 made up of international and local industry and academia experts selected Jasna's project and she was awarded 2nd place. The foundation was an official partner of the IEEE Student & Young Professional Congress. 

About Jasna Nuhic

I am Jasna Nuhić, a second year student of electrical engineering at International Burch University. I was born on 20th of July 1996 in war-ravaged but always gorgeous city of Bihać. From the day I was born until today, my mum was alone, with one and only mission in life, to look after me. I am her first and only child. With the wholehearted support of my uncle, her brother, day by day she guided me through all 20 years of my life, sharing good and bad moments. Their support and belief in me is the biggest motivation. Being a four year old, reading fluently, and manipulating four-digit numbers made people around me think I am gifted and a future mathematician. They were not completely wrong. Numbers and their manipulation always made me feel curious and somehow powerful.  In the fourth grade of primary school I started competing in math on different levels and continued with it for many years.

As perspective student, at the age of 13, my primary school nominated me for being a mayor of regional children ecological parliament. Being in this role for four years, and having to lead over 40 other children, ensured I matured rapidly.  After my mandate expired I continued as a mentor for the next generation of young parliamentarians.  As a volunteer, I performed many roles including moderator, event organizer, educator and many unnamed ones.   The moment I realized that each small thing I contributed in terms of community service is valuable, was the moment it opened up a whole new aspect of my life. Aware of responsibilities towards society, I continued with volunteer activities not just in the field of environment, but also in education, journalism and charity. I was member of Local Voluntary Service for three years in Bihać and participated in numerous activities and projects. I would like to point out one in particular, “Small school for future first graders”.  The political situation and ethnic boundaries in Bosnia & Herzegovina is something that all of us live with every day. 

From my point of view the main reason is ignorance and lack of forward thinking mentality. Therefore I took part in a three month project funded by the US Embassy “From tradition to tolerance”, with the mission of creating a better understanding among nationalities. Democracy and human rights always intrigued me so I applied and based on my skills, eventually was selected to become member of European Youth Parliament in the local team of Banja Luka and actively participated in organization of debates, international meetings and exchange of ideas among young European people.

My efforts have not gone unnoticed and I was awarded by the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina for volunteer work and contribution to the initiative "The Challenge: Choose a task, be the change" and promote active participation in the creation of an open, accountable democracy in BiH, which respects diversity.

I graduated from Una-Sana College high school as a scholarship student with all best grades and receivedthe principle’s honourable mention in every year of study. Four years of study ensured that I was a fluent speaker of English. Being a math Olympiad student developed my problem solving skills and encouraged me to do scientific research as well as work on interesting projects. My love and passion for technology are the reason I have had so much success in my early career.

All my classroom, extracurricular activities and their values were recognized by the International Burch University and  I was given a full scholarship to continue my studies in the field of Electrical Engineering.   In order to develop my professional skills as early as possible, from the first days of studies I joined Embedded Systems Design and Electronics student club and participated in their activities. Currently, I am the financial manager of the club. I have undertaken several projects, participated in some competitions and won awards on all-European EMECS-thon competition which the club organised with student associations around Europe.

Knowing how important amateur-radio is in critical situations, I was licensed by the state and  supported the idea of a student club of amateur-radio operators. Being the most active member, the senior advisor of the club selected me to undertake the project of HAMNET (amateur radio internet) implementation in the Sarajevo greater area together with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo.

In parallel with my first year of study, I enrolled into a one year soft skills academy “Activism zone” organized by Sarajevo Youth Council and received a certificate in November of 2016. I also participated in many other seminars and conferences in order to gain knowledge from various indirectly related fields to my profession such as project management, event organization, leadership and etc. I am an active member of IAESTE international student organization Sarajevo Local Committee where I work hard to provide internships to my fellow students from all engineering disciplines.

After completing the first year with 9.75 GPA, I undertook a summer intern in the Verification Laboratory of Medical Devices (VERLAB) for two months. During that time I learned a lot about Medical Engineering and got intrigued by it. Now, I am member of organizing committee of International CMBEBiH 2017 Conference of Biomedical Engineering and also I am about to present two scientific papers there.

The IEEE BiH Student and Young Professional Congress was great a opportunity to meet engineering superstars, to gain much knowledge and present my work to people who really care. My innovation “Conversion of plastic waste to fuel” got awarded 2nd place in the poster session from BH Futures Foundation. Although it was recognized by Association of Innovators and awarded internationally many times, from China to France, this is the first prize in my home country and that is what makes it so special for me.  

Young people of Bosnia & Herzegovina constantly face economic and social problems. The main concern is a lack of confidence in career opportunities, which is the reason why each year thousands of young & successful people are leaving the country and finding their place under some other sky. The BH Futures Foundation and its founders are constantly working on solving those kinds of problems and meeting our needs. Their mission is something that this country missed for 20 years, 20 unchanged years of little or no hope. Finally the founders of the foundation are providing us with the light rays of hope, brightening our future. 

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Ja sam Jasna Nuhić, student druge godine elektrotehničkog fakulteta Internacionalnog Burch Univerziteta. Rođena sam 20. jula 1996. godine u ratom razorenom, ali uvijek predivnom gradu Bihaću. Od kad sam se rodila do danas, moja mama je bila sama, sa jednim jedinim ciljem u životu, da se brine o meni. Njeno sam prvo i jedino dijete. Uz svesrdnu podršku mog dajdže, njenog brata, iz dana u dan me vodila kroz svih 20 godina mog života, dijeleći dobre i loše trenutke. Njihova podrška i vjerovanje u mene je najveća motivacija.

Kao čeverogodišnja djevojčica čitala sam tečno i uživala u manipulacijama četverocifrenim brojevima, što je navodilo ljude oko mene da misle da sam nadarena i budući matematičar. Nisu mnogo pogriješili. Brojevi i njihova manipulacija uvijek su me činili radoznalom i navodili da se osjećam na neki način moćno. U četvrtom razredu osnovne škole sam se počela takmičiti u matematici na različitim nivoima, s čime sam nastavila još mnogo narednih godina.

Kao perspektivnog učenika, u dobi od 13 godina, moja osnovna škola me nominirala za gradonačelnika dječijeg ekološkog parlamenta. Uloga lidera za više od 40 djece kroz četiri godine je osigurala moje brzo sazrijevanje. Nakon isteka mandata nastavila sam raditi kao mentor za sljedeću generaciju mladih parlamentaraca. Kao volonter, obavlja sam uloge voditelja, organizatora događaja, edukatora i mnoge neimenovane. Trenutak kada sam shvatila da je svaka mala stvar koju sam doprinijela u pogledu društveno korisnog rada vrijedna, bio je trenutak koji je otvorio potpuno novi aspekt mog života.

Svjesna odgovornosti prema društvu, nastavila sam sa volonterskim aktivnostima ne samo u oblasti zaštite životne sredine, već i obrazovanja, novinarstva i humanitarnog rada. Kao trogodišnji član Lokalnog volonterskog servisa u Bihaću sam učestvovala u brojnim aktivnostima i projektima. Onaj kojeg bih posebno istakla je "Mala škola za buduće đake prvake". Politička situacija i etnička ograničenja u Bosni i Hercegovini je nešto sa čim svi mi živimo svaki dan. Iz mog ugla glavni razlog tome je neznanje i nedostatak mentaliteta za razmišljanje unaprijed. Zato sam učestvovala u tromjesečnom projekatu finansiranom od strane američke ambasade "Tradicijom do tolerancije", sa zadatkom stvaranja boljeg razumijevanja među nacionalnostima. Demokratija i ljudska prava su me uvijek intrigirala te sam aplicirala, i na osnovu mojih sposobnosti, na kraju izabrana da postanem član Europskog parlamenta mladih lokalnog tima u Banjoj Luci gdje sam aktivno učestvovala u organizaciji debata, međunarodnih susreta i razmjene ideja među mladim ljudima Evrope. Moji napori nisu prošli nezapaženo te sam nagrađena od američke ambasade u Bosni i Hercegovini za volonterski rad i doprinos inicijativi "Izazov: Izaberi zadatak, budi promjena" i promoviranje aktivnog sudjelovanja u stvaranju otvorene, odgovorne demokratije u BiH, koja poštuje različitosti.

Maturirala sam kao stipendista Unsko-sanskog koledža sa svim najboljim ocjenama i pohvalama direktora za svaku školsku godinu. Četiri godine proučavanja osigurale su da sam tečni govornik engleskog i turskog jezika. To što sam bila dio matematičkog tima takmičara je razvilo moje vještine za rješavanje problema što me ohrabrilo da radim naučna istraživanja, kao I za rad na zanimljivim projektima. Moja ljubav i strast za tehnologiju su razlog zbog kojeg sam imala toliko uspjeha u mojoj ranoj karijeri.

Sve moje nastavne, vannastavne aktivnosti i njihove vrijednosti su priznati od strane Internacionalnog Burch univerziteta, te sam dobila punu stipendiju za nastavak studija u domenu elektrotehnike. U cilju razvoja svoje profesionalne sposobnosti što je ranije moguće, od prvog dana studija sam se priključila studentskom klubu elektronike i učestvovala u njihovim aktivnostima. Trenutno sam finansijski menadžer kluba. Radila sam na nekoliko projekata, učestvovala u nekim natjecanjima i osvojila nagradu na evropskom takmičenju EMECS-Thon kojeg je klub organizirao zajedno sa studentskim udruženjima širom Evrope.

Znajući koliko je radioamaterizam važan u kritičnim situacijama, licencirana od strane državne asocijacije podržala sam ideju studentskog kluba radioamaterskih operatora. Budući da sam najaktivniji član, viši savjetnik kluba me je odabrao  za rad na projektu implementacije radio-amaterskog interneta (HAMNET) u širem području Sarajeva, u saradnji sa Elektrotehničkim fakultetom Univerziteta u Sarajevu.

Paralelno sa prvom godinom studija, upisala sam jednogodišnju akademiju “mekih” vještina "Zona aktivizma", u organizaciji Vijeća mladih u Sarajevu gdje sam certificirana u oktobru ove godine. Također sam učestvovala na mnogim drugim seminarima i konferencijama u cilju sticanja znanja iz različitih oblasti indirektno vezanih za moju struku, kao što su projektni menadžment, organizacija događaja, liderstvo i sl. Aktivan sam član IAESTE međunarodne studentske organizacije Lokalni komitet Sarajevo, gdje ulažem napore kako bih osigurala stručne prakse za moje kolege, studente svih inženjerskih disciplina.

Nakon završetka prve godine s prosjekom 9,75 (GPA), tokom ljeta sam radila dvomjesečnu praksu u Verifikacionom laboratoriju za medicinske uređaje (VERLAB).  Za to vrijeme sam mnogo naučila o medicinskom inženjeringu što me zaintrigiralo.  Sada sam član Organizacionog odbora Međunarodne CMBEBiH 2017 konferencije biomedicinskog inženjeringa gdje cu predstaviti dva naučna rada.

IEEE Student BiH i Young Professional Congress je sjajna prilika za upoznavanje zvijezda inženjeringa, za sticanje mnogih znanja i predstavljanje svog rada ljudima kojima je zaista stalo. Za inovaciju "Pretvaranje plastičnog otpada u gorivo" BH Futures Foundation me nagradila drugim mjestom u poster sesiji. Iako priznata inovacija od strane Asocijacije inovatora i višestruko međunarodno nagrađivana, od Kine do Francuske, ovo je prva značajna nagrada u mojoj domovini i to je ono što je čini tako posebnom za mene.

Mladi ljudi u Bosni i Hercegovini konstantno se suočavaju sa ekonomskim i društvenim problemima. Glavna briga je nedostatak pouzdanosti u mogućnosti za razvoj karijere, što je razlog zašto svake godine hiljade mladih i uspješnih ljudi napuštaju zemlju i pronalaze svoje mjesto pod nekim drugim nebom. BH Futures Foundation i njeni osnivači neprestano rade na rješavanju tih vrsta problema i ispunjavanju potreba mladih ljudi. Njihova misija je nešto što je ovoj zemlji nedostajalo 20 godina, 20 nepromijenjenih godina sa malo ili nimalo nade. Konačno, osnivači fondacije nam pružaju svjetlosne zrake nade osvjetljavajući našu budućnost.