During this winter semester of the academic year 25/26, the course was delivered through two approaches: Joint Creative Classroom (JCC) and Work-Based Learning (WBL). These models enabled students to develop software solutions based on authentic business requirements while working in agile environments and using industry-standard tools and technologies.
Joint Creative Classroom
Throughout the semester, students attended weekly thematic lectures aligned with the structure of the course and the development phases of their projects. The lectures were organized into three thematic cycles. The first cycle covered core concepts such as digital platforms, agile development, Azure DevOps, monolithic architecture, and data, business, and API layers. The second cycle focused on advanced topics in cloud technologies and software architecture, including authentication, validation and logging, middleware, debugging and exception handling, Azure Cloud services, CI/CD pipelines, and clean code principles. The third cycle was dedicated to artificial intelligence, featuring lectures on AI fundamentals, Azure AI Services, and multi-agent systems.
Through the JCC collaboration with SPAN, one of Croatia’s leading IT companies, 20 students developed mobile applications within four project teams. Three teams worked on SmartMenza, an application designed to support meal planning and monitoring in student cafeterias, offering daily menu overviews, meal ratings and comments, personalized nutrition goals, and AI-powered features such as meal recommendations and nutritional analysis. The fourth team developed AI CareerBuddy, an application aimed at supporting students in career development through CV management, job and internship applications, AI-assisted CV–job matching analysis, and interview simulation.
Work based learning
In parallel, within the WBL model, 27 students organized into five teams collaborated with SICK Mobilisis, 7PAY, and OTP Bank to develop software solutions based on real business needs. These projects covered the complete software development lifecycle—from requirements analysis and system design to implementation and testing—while emphasizing teamwork in agile settings using tools such as Jira and Confluence.
The developed projects addressed domains including fintech, student services, and industrial information systems. The Indoor Localization project, created with SICK Mobilisis, focuses on real-time indoor object tracking with advanced movement visualization and analytical reporting for industrial use cases. In collaboration with 7PAY, students developed Nuvio, a secure and modular online card payment system supporting mobile and web applications and a microservices-based backend architecture, as well as mShop, a mobile application for merchants that enables card payments, product management, and AI-assisted daily operations. Together with OTP Bank, students worked on OTP Student, a project focused on student employment, career development, and user engagement through gamification, educational content, and AI support. Two separate mobile applications were developed for this project by two different teams.
A total of 47 students participated in the course through JCC and WBL model, working in nine project teams. The course is led by Assoc. Prof. Zlatko Stapić, PhD, with mentoring support from Lea Masnec, MSc and Dario Ljubas, MSc. Through these partnerships, students gained direct exposure to professional development environments, real-world challenges, and expert feedback.
The semester concluded with project defense sessions, during which students presented their solutions to representatives of partner companies, gaining valuable experience in professional presentation and expert evaluation. Through its strong integration of industry collaboration, the AiR course continues to strengthen the connection between the FOI and the business sector while equipping students with practical, industry-relevant competencies.
