diff --git a/asr.py b/asr.py
index 24c3f9c..521afe5 100644
--- a/asr.py
+++ b/asr.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import os
 
 from base_util import get_asset_info, asr_output_dir
-from config import s3_endpoint_url, s3_bucket, s3_folder_in_bucket
+from config import s3_endpoint_url, s3_bucket, s3_folder_in_bucket, model_base_dir
 from download import download_uri
 from whisper import run_asr, WHISPER_JSON_FILE
 from s3_util import S3Store
@@ -10,9 +10,10 @@
 from daan_transcript import generate_daan_transcript, DAAN_JSON_FILE
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+os.environ["HF_HOME"] = model_base_dir  # change dir where model is downloaded
 
 
-def run(input_uri: str, output_uri: str) -> bool:
+def run(input_uri: str, output_uri: str, model=None) -> bool:
     logger.info(f"Processing {input_uri} (save to --> {output_uri})")
     # 1. download input
     result = download_uri(input_uri)
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ def run(input_uri: str, output_uri: str) -> bool:
     # 3. run ASR
     if not asr_already_done(output_path):
         logger.info("No Whisper transcript found")
-        run_asr(input_path, output_path)
+        run_asr(input_path, output_path, model)
     else:
         logger.info(f"Whisper transcript already present in {output_path}")
 
diff --git a/base_util.py b/base_util.py
index 4ffd5fe..d0384b8 100644
--- a/base_util.py
+++ b/base_util.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import logging
-import ntpath
 import os
 import subprocess
 from typing import Tuple
@@ -12,7 +11,7 @@
 
 # the file name without extension is used as asset ID
 def get_asset_info(input_file: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
-    file_name = ntpath.basename(input_file)
+    file_name = os.path.basename(input_file)
     asset_id, extension = os.path.splitext(file_name)
     logger.info(f"working with this asset ID {asset_id}")
     return asset_id, extension
diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 0d2fcc1..90a5e85 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ def run_api(port: int):
     uvicorn.run(api, port=port, host="0.0.0.0")
 
 
-def run_job(intput_uri: str, output_uri: str):
+def run_job(input_uri: str, output_uri: str):
     import asr
 
     logger.info("Running Whisper as a one time job")
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 58232e9..73762e0 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 1.8.2 and should not be changed by hand.
+# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 1.8.3 and should not be changed by hand.
 
 [[package]]
 name = "annotated-types"
@@ -146,17 +146,17 @@ files = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "boto3"
-version = "1.35.24"
+version = "1.35.26"
 description = "The AWS SDK for Python"
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.8"
 files = [
-    {file = "boto3-1.35.24-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:97fcc1a14cbc759e4ba9535ced703a99fcf652c9c4b8dfcd06f292c80551684b"},
-    {file = "boto3-1.35.24.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:be7807f30f26d6c0057e45cfd09dad5968e664488bf4f9138d0bb7a0f6d8ed40"},
+    {file = "boto3-1.35.26-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:c31db992655db233d98762612690cfe60723c9e1503b5709aad92c1c564877bb"},
+    {file = "boto3-1.35.26.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:b04087afd3570ba540fd293823c77270ec675672af23da9396bd5988a3f8128b"},
 ]
 
 [package.dependencies]
-botocore = ">=1.35.24,<1.36.0"
+botocore = ">=1.35.26,<1.36.0"
 jmespath = ">=0.7.1,<2.0.0"
 s3transfer = ">=0.10.0,<0.11.0"
 
@@ -165,13 +165,13 @@ crt = ["botocore[crt] (>=1.21.0,<2.0a0)"]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "botocore"
-version = "1.35.24"
+version = "1.35.26"
 description = "Low-level, data-driven core of boto 3."
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=3.8"
 files = [
-    {file = "botocore-1.35.24-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:eb9ccc068255cc3d24c36693fda6aec7786db05ae6c2b13bcba66dce6a13e2e3"},
-    {file = "botocore-1.35.24.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:1e59b0f14f4890c4f70bd6a58a634b9464bed1c4c6171f87c8795d974ade614b"},
+    {file = "botocore-1.35.26-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:0b9dee5e4a3314e251e103585837506b17fcc7485c3c8adb61a9a913f46da1e7"},
+    {file = "botocore-1.35.26.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:19efc3a22c9df77960712b4e203f912486f8bcd3794bff0fd7b2a0f5f1d5712d"},
 ]
 
 [package.dependencies]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 7294fa3..bb9f202 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "whisper-asr-worker"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.3.0"
 description = "Whisper speech-to-text worker"
 authors = ["Dragos Alexandru Balan <d.a.balan@utwente.nl>"]
 license = "MIT"
diff --git a/s3_util.py b/s3_util.py
index 842aee7..303d36e 100644
--- a/s3_util.py
+++ b/s3_util.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import boto3
 import logging
-import ntpath
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import tarfile
 from typing import List, Tuple, Optional
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ def generate_asset_id_from_input_file(
     input_file: str, with_extension: bool = False
 ) -> str:
     logger.info(f"generating asset ID for {input_file}")
-    file_name = ntpath.basename(input_file)  # grab the file_name from the path
+    file_name = os.path.basename(input_file)  # grab the file_name from the path
     if with_extension:
         return file_name
 
     # otherwise cut off the extension
-    asset_id, extension = os.path.splitext(file_name)
+    asset_id, _ = os.path.splitext(file_name)
     return asset_id
 
 
@@ -60,10 +60,11 @@ def tar_list_of_files(archive_path: str, file_list: List[str]) -> bool:
 
 
 def validate_s3_uri(s3_uri: str) -> bool:
-    if s3_uri[0:5] != "s3://":
+    o = urlparse(s3_uri, allow_fragments=False)
+    if o.scheme != "s3":
         logger.error(f"Invalid protocol in {s3_uri}")
         return False
-    if len(s3_uri[5:].split("/")) < 2:
+    if o.path == "":
         logger.error(f"No object_name specified {s3_uri}")
         return False
     return True
@@ -72,9 +73,9 @@ def validate_s3_uri(s3_uri: str) -> bool:
 # e.g. "s3://beng-daan-visxp/jaap-dane-test/dane-test.tar.gz"
 def parse_s3_uri(s3_uri: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
     logger.info(f"Parsing s3 URI {s3_uri}")
-    tmp = s3_uri[5:]
-    bucket = tmp[: tmp.find("/")]  # beng-daan-visxp
-    object_name = s3_uri[len(bucket) + 6 :]  # jaap-dane-test/dane-test.tar.gz
+    o = urlparse(s3_uri, allow_fragments=False)
+    bucket = o.netloc  # beng-daan-visxp
+    object_name = o.path.lstrip("/")  # jaap-dane-test/dane-test.tar.gz
     return bucket, object_name
 
 
diff --git a/transcode.py b/transcode.py
index 2a1231d..63e019c 100644
--- a/transcode.py
+++ b/transcode.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from typing import Optional
 
 import base_util
-from base_util import data_base_dir
+from config import data_base_dir
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/whisper.py b/whisper.py
index 41cd5aa..68e5e90 100644
--- a/whisper.py
+++ b/whisper.py
@@ -22,19 +22,20 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def run_asr(input_path, output_dir) -> bool:
+def run_asr(input_path, output_dir, model=None) -> bool:
     logger.info(f"Starting ASR on {input_path}")
-    logger.info(f"Device used: {w_device}")
-    # checking if model needs to be downloaded from HF or not
-    model_location = model_base_dir if check_model_availability() else w_model
-    model = faster_whisper.WhisperModel(
-        model_location,
-        device=w_device,
-        compute_type=(  # float16 only works on GPU, float32 or int8 are recommended for CPU
-            "float16" if w_device == "cuda" else "float32"
-        ),
-    )
-    logger.info("Model loaded, now getting segments")
+    if not model:
+        logger.info(f"Device used: {w_device}")
+        # checking if model needs to be downloaded from HF or not
+        model_location = model_base_dir if check_model_availability() else w_model
+        model = faster_whisper.WhisperModel(
+            model_location,
+            device=w_device,
+            compute_type=(  # float16 only works on GPU, float32 or int8 are recommended for CPU
+                "float16" if w_device == "cuda" else "float32"
+            ),
+        )
+        logger.info("Model loaded, now getting segments")
     segments, _ = model.transcribe(
         input_path,
         vad_filter=w_vad,
diff --git a/whisper_api.py b/whisper_api.py
index dbae13d..21ee862 100644
--- a/whisper_api.py
+++ b/whisper_api.py
@@ -5,10 +5,29 @@
 from enum import Enum
 from typing import Optional
 from pydantic import BaseModel
+from config import (
+    model_base_dir,
+    w_device,
+    w_model,
+)
+import faster_whisper
+from model_download import check_model_availability
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 api = FastAPI()
 
+logger.info(f"Loading model on device {w_device}")
+# checking if model needs to be downloaded from HF or not
+model_location = model_base_dir if check_model_availability() else w_model
+model = faster_whisper.WhisperModel(
+    model_location,
+    device=w_device,
+    compute_type=(  # float16 only works on GPU, float32 or int8 are recommended for CPU
+        "float16" if w_device == "cuda" else "float32"
+    ),
+)
+logger.info("Model loaded!")
+
 
 class Status(Enum):
     CREATED = "CREATED"
@@ -69,7 +88,7 @@ def try_whisper(task: Task):
     try:
         task.status = Status.PROCESSING
         update_task(task)
-        run(task.input_uri, task.output_uri)
+        run(task.input_uri, task.output_uri, model)
         task.status = Status.DONE
     except Exception:
         logger.exception("Failed to run whisper")