Higher Education in Kosovo: Major Changes, Reforms and Development Trends at University of Prishtina and University of Mitrovica and their role in peapeace building and reconciliation during post-conflict period
Education system in Kosovo went through tremendous and courageous developments since June 1999, when conflict in Kosovo ended. Although Higher Education experienced essential reforms, there are pro et contra arguments whether substantial or superficial reforms took place during this past eight-year period of time. The reform process is underway, but it will take more time until it delivers a quality product, i.e. skilful and competitive students for the open market and an environment which is free of disagreements of the past and where peace building reconciliation are deeply rooted in the society. As the push for reform came from international stakeholders, local players still strive for ownership of the process as a way to drive it further. Steps have been made, but results are yet to be seen.
Educational success in a new democracy: modeling university student persistence and completion in Kosovo
In the context of a new democracy, the success of Kosovo university students is crucial to improving the material conditions and long-term stability of the youth in the country. Using the burgeoning data infrastructure from the public higher education sector, this analysis utilizes a sample of 67,618 to examine college student persistence and degree completion from 32 faculties. Findings demonstrate that persistence and completion are highly gendered phenomena, and that completion is largely dependent on a student’s major field of study.
Stability of planar PEMFC in Printed Circuit Board technology
Abstract The use of planar PEMFCs in printed circuit board (PCB) technology with a thickness of less than 3.5 mm are presented. This planar design consists of an open cathode side which allows a completely passive, self-breathing operation of the fuel cell. Power densities of 100 mW/cm 2 at 500 mV with hydrogen as a fuel were achieved. A steady operation with this type of fuel cell was demonstrated over a week without any cell flooding. Since the electrical conducting elements of PCBs usually are made of copper, corrosion in the wet environment of a PEMFC is expected. Thus, a significant degradation in performance of fuel cells made of plain copper PCBs was seen in long-term operation. In order to avoid corrosion, the copper layer has to be coated. Fuel cells in PCB design with diverse coatings were tested in long-term operations up to 1000 h under load. Moreover, corrosion currents have been determined by the use of potentiodynamic scans. Promising coatings are electroplated Cr and Ni and a combination of Ni/Au.