SERIES OF GUEST SPEAKERS AND CLASS VISITS AT ZAGREB CAMPUS

Guest speakers in Zagreb, October 2015

Visit to KING ICT
More than 50 RIT Croatia IT students visited KING ICT to gain insight into the daily business practices of an IT company.
The students attended two lectures: the first by the Director of Software Delivery, Roko Roić, on science lessons from the history of software development methodologies and the second lecture by the main KING ICT architect, Matija Capan, on software quality assurance.
In addition to this, students were given first-hand information on the company, their methods of operation, technology and programming languages "Kingers" use in their projects, working conditions, and the required profile of potential employees. By visiting the KING ICT facilities, students learned about the products and services they currently offer as well as information on future projects.
Expertise leads to successful business, and in it one must find space for relaxation and inspiration; hence, the students visited KING's nooks for relaxation, including their gym, sauna, billiard lounges, and table soccer areas. After all...that's the world of a successful IT company and a pleasant, modern, working environment that is waiting for new, young professionals to join them.
Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/1432499477039476/photos/pcb.1651973945092027/1651973448425410/?type=3&theater

Interesting lecture by Mr. Tomislav Bilić, Founder and CEO, Inchoo
During his lecture, Mr. Bilić, a CEO and Founder of Inchoo, talked about his entrepreneurial path: The story of Inchoo, where he talked about idea development, company beginnings, the main challenges they've faced from 7 years ago when starting the business, thecurrent situation and their future plans.
Mr. Bilić also covered the following topics: implementation of content marketing strategy through knowledge sharing on their web/blog, he spoke about technologies and languages they use for their projects, introduced Magento platform to students, gave a few pieces of advice to students on what skill set a successful candidate needs to have, what languages/technologies an Inchoo programmer needs to know. He concluded the presentation by sharing future plans of the company and the current situation, where they have more than 40 employees and constant growth over the last 7 years.

RIT Croatia hosted a video conference presentation and introduction of Extension Engine/ MANAS d.o.o. , an IT company with offices in Split, Zagreb, Los Angeles and Boston.
This company was founded 15 years ago, and today employs 200 programmers, developers, testers and designers. The company was listed two times amongst the top 5,000 fastest growing companies in the United States. They are experts in the field of Online Education technologies with constant growth, with Harvard, MIT, Fitch Ratings and Smithsonian as their main clients. Their main project is called edX, an online learning platform in which they play the main technology partner role. RIT Croatia is very happy to host Extension Engine/ Manas d.o.o. at the Career Education Days, for the first time.

Visit to CROZ
More than 50 RIT Croatia IT students visited CROZ to gain insight into an IT company's daily business practices.
A few Croz employees presented their job responsibilities and other things they work on to RIT Croatia students, including:

• Vedrana Miholić, director of sales at CROZ, introduced the company and worldwide
• Petar Zrinščak, team leader & architect
• Antonija Kujundžić, system analyst
• Joso Zrilić, developer
• Hrvoje Šimić, senior software development consultant in charge of new developers at CROZ

Hrvoje Šimić talked about the experience of working with students and freshly graduated software engineers from Croatian universities coming to work in the industry. He talked about the importance of lifelong learning within the IT field, about new technologies and the biggest challenges young software developers face with. Other CROZ employees presented their regular activities and gave students insight into their everyday work.

Matija Tomašković, CEO of Evolva was a guest speaker at RIT Croatia
CEO of Evolva, Mr. Matija Tomašković held a lecture for IT students where he spoke about the technology his company is using - Evolution Framework.
By introducing the technology to students, Mr. Tomašković showed students the tools for efficient development of web applications and shared with students how experts in his company are monitoring work of the applications and implementing continuous improvements of demanding performances of demanding web-based information systems.
After the lecture, students took the opportunity to ask Mr. Tomašković about different issues related to supervision of work applications, the security of data and performance of web-based systems. Hosting Mr. Tomašković was an excellent opportunity for the students to hear more about this award-winning technology from its author, but also to learn more about employment and internship opportunities within Evolva.
Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m9geudie32svmxl/AADaa7H4xWC-bNBGNGcx8UOVa?dl=0&preview=2015-11-02+17.11.58.jpg

Guest speakers in Zagreb, November/December 2015

Dr. Darren Treasure, Partner at Round Midnight Investments/Owner NK Istria, 1961.
Dr. Treasure delivered a lecture on the following topic: Applying lessons from elite sport to the world of business- Developing a Champion's Mindset .
Dr. Treasure is one of sport's most recognized mental performance coaches providing support to Olympic and World Champions, athletes and teams who have competed and won at the highest levels of sport. He has been instrumental in the success of some of the world's finest distance runners including Double Olympic Gold Medalist Mo Farah and Olympic Silver Medalist Galen Rupp. He currently works with Nike's Oregon Project, a select number of NFL and NBA players, the University of Oregon and serves on Nike's 20-member worldwide Executive Performance Council. The lecture he delivered sparked the interest of students and many of them expressed their interest in the sports industry and conducting internships with NK Istria, 1961.

Mrs. Ivana Šoljan, Board member, IN2
Mrs. Ivana Šoljan, delivered a lecture on the following topic: Startup vs. Big Company Leadership - What can mature companies learn from start-ups. Through the presentation, Mrs. Šoljan introduced some key differences between a start-up and a corporation; she spoke about corporate culture, what exactly makes a corporation, and what it takes to create high performance teams.
As the start-up scene is becoming more and more popular, especially within the IT field, this presentation was tailored to give students a better distinction between a corporation and a start-up and what these two can learn from one another.
One of the key messages that could have been applied to all students, not matter their field of study or year level, was the one about leadership and what it takes to become a successful leader who will inspire his or her teams. Mrs. Šoljan shared how it is extremely important to create and affirm a culture based on trust with relevant beliefs and values, hire motivated people, inspire and empower them and then leave them alone to do their work.

Mr. Teo Vujčić, CEO of Zvijezda
Mr. Vujčić delivered a lecture on "How to find your own path in a competitive business environment,"where he shared his career success.
With a rich management background, Mr. Vujčić was a perfect lecturer for the topic. Throughout his presentation, Mr. Vujčić shared his experiences and personal stories, explained what it took him to come to where he is today- what were some of the main challenges and difficult situations he faced throughout his career, how he managed to balance his private and personal life, as well as gave students advice on how to compete and succeed in a competitive business environment.
Slike: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uew74fy8zpk5x3m/AAB2IMGEDPRuSALLKS_QgeIIa?oref=e

Jason Berry, CEO at Positive Equity
Mr. Berry spoke to students about the trading world: what is it like to be a trader, futures trader or commodities trader in Croatia or Ireland. He spoke about his career path and why he decided to open up a business in Croatia, explained to students what the typical day of trader looks like and what skill set they'll need to have in order to succeed in this world. Mr. Berry concluded the presentation by sharing his employment plans and general future plans of the company.

Morgan Stanley representatives from Budapest
Morgan Stanley representatives delivered a lecture on the following topic: "Morgan Stanley - Finance and Risk Departments." During the lecture they talked about their company, departments and opportunities and what a typical day in the Finance and Risk Departments look like.
After the presentation, MS representatives held a drop in session for all students who wanted to learn more about the company operations and the opportunities they offer and for those who wanted to have 1:1 conversations with representatives. Simultaneously, two representatives held mock interviews with students who applied for potential positions- interviewed students and gave them feedback on what they did well and what they need to improve on for future interviews.