The second generation of the FERIT Mainframe Academy (2025/26) has successfully completed the program. Created in collaboration between FERIT, IBM Croatia and CROZ, the Academy once again brought together students interested in mainframe technologies, with interest growing significantly.

The course Fundamentals of Mainframe Technology received 36 applications, and 34 students were selected, more than three times as many as in the first generation. All participants successfully completed the program. The course included five lectures and seven lab sessions, 30 hours of instruction in total, jointly led by FERIT faculty and experts from IBM and CROZ. Students worked on a real mainframe system and had access to the Interskill and IBM zXploreplatforms.

The program was led by Assoc. Prof. Zdravko Krpić, PhD and Luka Kaučić, with mentoring support from partner companies.

On Interskill alone, students completed 686 learning modules and 209 courses, earned 77 digital badges (certificates)and logged a total of 254 training hours, a significant increase over the previous year.

Alongside the core course, the COBOL School was also successfully completed this year. The top participants of both the Academy and the COBOL School completed internships with Academy partners.

The best students also attended CROZ’s Mighty Mainframe conference, where they connected with fellow students from Belgium and industry experts.

Starting next academic year, the course will also be taught in English, opening the door to Erasmus+ students and broader international collaboration. The FERIT Mainframe Academy continues to grow as an example of successful collaboration between academia and industry.