Department of Computer Science and Engineering student Rrezarta Krasniqi was voted People’s Choice at this year’s Three Minute Thesis competition. The recognition comes with a $250 cash prize.

Hosted annually by the Toulouse Graduate School, the Three Minute Thesis competition challenges graduate students to present their thesis or dissertation in less than three minutes for a cash prize up to $1,000.

Krasniqi’s research focuses on finding ways to eliminate scattered and tangled code that gets unintentionally created when software developers and architects work on a project and don’t communicate effectively.

“Often, developers will write the code and retrofit a solution without making the architects aware something has been added,” she said. “This can lead to defects in the software and can even pose a risk for other issues to emerge such as security, reliability or even safety concerns.”

Her solution is to develop a robust and reliant software that can help identify and fix such bugs through an automated approach.

“My goal is to enhance software maintenance and evolution without causing additional complications with the design or implementation of the software,” she said. “I want to ensure that developers can enhance the quality of the software and its behavior without inadvertently causing additional problems, and I believe this automated approach could really help with that.”

Prior to attending UNT, Krasniqi worked as a software developer in industry.

“When I worked as a developer, I found there were a lot of flaws in software programs, because there were no tools to find and fix these issues. I kept thinking, ‘I wish I could have a tool that would tell me a safe approach to tackle this issue,’” said Krasniqi. “That’s why I came to academia. I wanted to find a solution to this problem. I figured I could make a little bit of change in the academic world and have an impact in the community too.”

Outside of her research, Krasniqi spends her time encouraging other women to join STEM through her involvement in student organizations or in talks and presentations to the public.

“Women have the capacity to do great work and are capable of doing complex work just as men are,” she said. “I often tell people if you have the willingness to do something great, go do that, but be aware that you need to have patience, perseverance and persistence.”