Sarajevo-born Adnan Mehonić, a professor in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London, speaks to Moja BiH – Oslobođenje about his journey to the stars.

Sarajevo-born Adnan Mehonić graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in his home town and is today a professor in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London. For MojaBiH, Oslobođenje's portal, he talks about his education in BiH and the United Kingdom, his career as a professor, his fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom and his membership of the Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (ANNT). We ask him: why London?

An excellent opportunity

– I decided to apply for a master's programme in nanotechnology at University College London. Nanotechnology is an extremely popular and broad field and, as such, the focus of many research groups. The programme itself was a combination of electronics and applied physics, which had always been one of my interests. I was fortunate to receive a British government scholarship and, after my master's, to continue with doctoral studies, which I completed in 2013, Adnan tells us, adding that it is hard to feel like a foreigner in London, because integration is almost instantaneous.

Mehonić was also recognised as UCL's most innovative academic in 2015.

– Almost at the very beginning of my doctoral studies, together with my then supervisor and UCL's business team, we decided that the memristor technology I was working on should be patented and its intellectual property protected. For many years, alongside my academic career, I was also involved in commercialising the technology. All of this resulted in the founding of a spin-out company, in which, besides being a co-founder, I currently also serve as Chief Technology Officer. UCL recognised these activities and awarded me the prize for the most innovative academic in 2015. Every award is special in its own way – from the Golden Badge of the University of Sarajevo and the Oxford Instruments prize for my master's thesis, the first award I received in the United Kingdom, to the academically extremely significant distinction from the Royal Academy of Engineering, Mehonić says candidly.

He believes he is the first professor (lecturer) from BiH in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
– Looking at UCL as a whole, there is also the very successful mathematics professor Mahir Hadžić. Every year there are a number of students from BiH. Most of them are master's or doctoral students on Chevening scholarships, which are an excellent opportunity for our students, Mehonić explains.

He says the Royal Academy of Engineering award is probably the greatest recognition of his academic career so far.

– The Academy is the most prestigious engineering institution in the United Kingdom. The award itself (Research Fellowship) comprises full financial support for a period of five years and is granted each year to a very small number of scientists who are starting an independent academic career, with the aim of developing them into national and international scientific leaders. Each university in the United Kingdom may nominate only 2 or 3 candidates for this distinction, Mehonić emphasises.

He adds that throughout all his years in Britain he has wondered how to contribute to the development of the academic community in BiH.

Connecting young people

– And I am not the only one who thinks this way. With this in mind, two years ago, together with other outstanding young people who completed most of their education in BiH and are currently studying or working abroad, we founded the Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology. The Association connects young, successful scientists and experts in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. I can say that I am proud that in these short two years we have organised a large number of projects, the largest of which – now in its second edition – is STEM Youth Camp, a camp for secondary school students from all over BiH with an affinity for the natural sciences and technology, funded by the Embassy of the United States of America in BiH, Adnan tells us.

Source: Oslobođenje.ba