The meaning of this activity

For me, these courses were a natural extension of my work as a professor and software engineer. In an industrial environment, the emphasis was not on the systematic presentation of a discipline, as at the university, but on the rapid and effective transfer of useful knowledge within a precise professional context. For this reason, the courses always had to be adapted to the participants' level, the profile of the organization, and the technologies involved.

Seen as a whole, they also provide an image of the transformations that took place in computing over those years: from classical programming and operating systems to systems analysis and design, and then to object orientation, UML, Java, CORBA, the Internet, and networks. The list is probably not complete, but it outlines the main directions of this activity quite well.

Early experiences

My first training activities outside university education were connected with the course Computer Structure and Programming, delivered within the Popular University, at its Bucharest and Sinaia branches. These were years in which computing was beginning to attract growing interest, while access to systematic instruction was still limited. Such courses also had the role of introducing a field that was still new for many participants.

Courses delivered in Italy

The largest part of my industry training activity took place in Italy. There I worked with private firms, public institutions, research bodies, and administrative organizations, in a framework much more diverse than the university one. Some courses were intended for software developers, others for system administrators, and others for categories of staff who needed to acquire a general computing culture or concrete operational skills.

In many cases, the same topic was delivered for different beneficiaries and in different forms. Some subjects, such as Java, UML, systems analysis and design, or Internet technologies, were taught in successive versions, from introductory to advanced level.

Main thematic areas

Programming and software development

An important part of the courses was devoted to programming languages and development technologies: C, C++, Turbo Pascal, Java, structured programming, and component-based development in Java.

Analysis, design, and modeling

Another substantial group of courses addressed methods for the analysis and design of information systems: structured analysis, data analysis, object-oriented analysis and design, the UML language, and Design Patterns.

Internet, networks, and distributed systems

As these topics became central in industry, I also delivered courses on Internet protocols and architectures, Internet programming, recent Internet technologies, computer networks, as well as middleware for distributed systems, especially CORBA.

Operating systems and software tools

Other courses were devoted to operating systems and software environments widely used at the time: UNIX (ULTRIX), Windows NT, MS-DOS, the Windows graphical environment, and the Microsoft Office suite.

General computing training

For certain public institutions I also delivered introductory courses such as Fundamentals of Computing, intended for participants who did not necessarily come from a technical background but needed a solid understanding of computing tools.

Beneficiaries

Among the organizations for which I delivered such courses were: Italcable, ENEA, Banca d’Italia, CNR Italia, Digital Italia SpA, Telecom SpA, Telesoft SpA, Comitex SpA, Assioma SpA, Smarten SpA, Datamat SpA, Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia, as well as, in other contexts, ViaSat, Tecnopolis, Regione Lazio, Corte dei Conti, and Unacoma.

The diversity of these beneficiaries also says something about the nature of my activity in those years: it was not only a matter of teaching technical notions, but of being able to adapt the content to very different professional contexts, from software companies and telecommunications to public administration and research institutions.

List of courses