Open4Tech Summer School 2025

What does it take to thrive as a software engineer in the age of AI? In this fast-paced talk, we'll explore 10 essential skills - both technical and soft - that define success in an AI-driven world. From prompt engineering to ethical reasoning, from mastering AI tools to creative problem-solving, you'll discover how to future-proof your skill set. The session wraps up with a live demo: building a web app from scratch using prompt engineering and Cursor AI. Come for the insights, stay for the code!.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 1 session x 2h

Over the course of 2 sessions, we will try to understand what software development means in the AI Era and what knowledge and skills are needed in practice, in real-world projects.

• 1st Session: AI Era - Technical Perspective.
• 2nd Session: AI Era - Human Perspective.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 2 sessions x 2h

If you had an assistant, what should it be like? Faster? More experienced? Using GitHub Copilot as an example, we will explore what we need to know in order to turn it into our ally, not a replacement for the programmer.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 1 session x 2h

Want to write code for an app? Where does your code end and the product begin?

We will explore the life cycle of a software application, the team dynamics behind it and what steps you can add to your daily routine to become a better programmer.

Difficulty: easy-medium

Format: 1 session x 2h

This 4-hour intensive course provides university students with essential knowledge and practical skills for maintaining strong cybersecurity practices in academic and personal contexts.

Students will learn to identify and mitigate common digital threats including phishing attacks, malware, and social engineering tactics while developing robust password management strategies and secure browsing habits.

The course covers privacy protection techniques, safe social media practices, and secure handling of academic and personal data across multiple devices and platforms. Through hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios, students will master the fundamental cyber hygiene practices necessary to protect their digital identity, academic work, and personal information in an increasingly connected world.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 2 sessions x 2h

Participants will learn how to create automated workflows and integrate multi-step AI agents for effective automation and enhanced productivity.

Presentation structure:

• Introduction to Workflow Automation: Overview of automation (benefits, examples, and key concepts).
• Integrating AI into Workflows: AI-driven workflow essentials, examples (OpenAI, ChatGPT, Gemini), and API setup.
• Practical Project - Building an Automated Workflow: Designing a workflow triggered by input (form/email), efficient data processing, implementing multi-step AI agents, testing and debugging.
• Optimization and Advanced Techniques: Workflow best practices and real-world examples.
• Q&A and Feedback: Participant questions and resources for further learning.

Difficulty: intermediate

Format: 1 session x 2h

Curious about building your own AI model? This intermediate-level, hands-on session will walk you through the key steps of training and fine-tuning machine learning models using accessible tools - no massive computing power required.

What You'll Learn:

• The basic workflow for training a model.
• How to adapt pre-trained models to your specific needs (fine-tuning).
• How to avoid common pitfalls like overfitting and underfitting.
• Best practices for evaluating your model's performance.

Perfect for anyone with a basic understanding of machine learning who's ready to take the next step.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 1 session x 2h

This 4-hour specialized course introduces cybersecurity students to NixOS as a powerful platform for building secure, reproducible computing environments.

Students will explore NixOS's unique declarative configuration system and how its immutable infrastructure approach enhances security posture through atomic upgrades, easy rollbacks, and elimination of configuration drift.

The course covers practical implementation of security-focused NixOS configurations including hardened system profiles, network isolation, service sandboxing, and automated security updates.

Through hands-on labs, students will learn to leverage Nix's reproducible builds for creating consistent security testing environments, implementing zero-trust architectures, and developing portable security configurations that can be version-controlled and deployed across multiple systems for penetration testing, incident response, and secure development workflows.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 2 sessions x 2h

C++ is old, older than me - older than you, and yet it's used extensively in today's world. It must be really good at something, right? Absolutely!.

We will see how today's C++ is better and safer than ever and explore practical samples to get an understanding of the toolbox at our disposal in modern C++.

Difficulty: medium

Format: 2 sessions x 2h

Your app is only as strong as its weakest input. From ' OR 1='1 to full system compromise.

This course dives into the anatomy of code injection, broken logic, and the art of writing code that refuses to trust anything blindly.

Difficulty: medium

Format: 1 session x 2h

In this interactive presentation, we will explore how User Experience (UX) is more than just beautiful design; it's a subtle balance between empathy, critical thinking, and technological innovation. You'll discover how design decisions influence our daily behaviors, choices, and even our emotional state.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 1 session x 2h

Ready to dive into web development but not sure where to start?

Join this hands-on intro to Django, the powerful Python web framework that makes building web apps surprisingly simple. Learn the key differences between MVC and MVT, create your first real web app, explore REST API and more.

Whether you're a coding newbie or just new to Django, this session gives you the solid foundation you need to start building fast, functional, and modern web applications.

Difficulty: beginner

Format: 1 session x 2h