UALR student won 1st Place paper at UC-Berkelye's International Engineering Conference

Just read a news from the campus e-newsletter. I was attracted by the first sentence and then wondered if this Enkeleda is the Enka I know. After I read it, I am sure this is the girl who worked in the library's computer room and always fought against bad behaviors there. She was bold and fractious while working as a undergraduate student in the lab. I guess that was because of the tensions her two majors and one minor brought to her. We got to know each other through a hard ball she barely handled while managing the lab and then we had chances being together and have fun in TEAMS group activity. I am so surprised and proud to see her achievement. Following is the full report of this news copied from the UALR weekly INFO@UALR Newsletter - June 16, 2006 by Thomas Wallace.
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UALR Student Wins 1st Place Paper at UC-Berkley's Int'l Engineering Conference
UALR graduate student Enkeleda Dervishi won top honors in the Student
Paper Competition at the Electrostatics Society of America's Annual
Meeting last week at the University of California at Berkley. Dervishi
earned her undergraduate degree in electronics and computer
engineering technology with a minor in mathematics at UALR's Donaghey
College of Information Science and Systems Engineering. She is a Ph.D.
candidate studying under Research Associate Professor Alex Biris, who
received his Ph.D. from UALR's CyberCollege.
"It was the first time I presented a paper before 150 people – so many
people who are doing great work – and representatives from many
universities and research institutions," said Dervishi, a native of
Albania. "I want to thank my co-authors and my advisor. I couldn't
have done it without him." Her First Place paper, Transparent and
Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Nanocomposite
Materials for Electrostatic Charge Dissipation, deals with
experimentation on carbon nanotubes and how they can alter the
properties of polymer materials.
The paper, judged by scientists from France, Finland, Canada, and the
United States, describes how the researchers mixed carbon nanotubes
with polymers to create a transparent film that can conduct
electricity. "The process is just in the first phase of development
and there is still a long way to go," Biris said. Earlier this year, a
Biris-mentored Central High School student won second place at the
International Science Fair. Biris is the chief scientific officer at
UALR's Nanotechnology Center. Last year, UALR received approval from
the governor and the Arkansas General Assembly to spend $5.9 million
in General Improvement money to establish a nanotechnology lab
designed to capitalize on nanotechnology breakthroughs discovered at
UALR.