On Wednesday, 1 April 2026, a guest lecture by Prof. Dragutin Kermek, PhD, from the Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI), entitled “Challenges in Multithreading and the Use of Reflection in the Java Programming Language”, was held in the Small Ceremonial Hall (Room 39) of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek. The lecture was organised as part of the Programming 2 course within the double-major graduate study programme in Information Technologies, at the invitation of Assoc. Prof. Tomislav Jakopec, PhD, himself an FOI alumnus.
During the lecture, Professor Kermek presented the key concepts of multithreaded programming in detail, with particular emphasis on threads, their creation, management and use in real-world programming situations. Through a series of concrete examples, he introduced students to the complexity of executing tasks in parallel, as well as the potential challenges that come with such an approach. In the final part of the lecture, he further explained the concept of reflection in Java and its connection with thread execution.
The lecture took place in a highly engaging atmosphere and offered students not only a theoretical framework but also valuable insight into the practical aspects of programming. Guest lectures of this kind are particularly valuable because they enable students to connect academic knowledge with concrete practical experience, contributing to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better preparation for their future professional careers. Professor Jakopec frequently seeks to organise guest lectures within his courses and show students how to make practical use of what they have learned during their studies.
This is precisely where the added value of welcoming a lecturer from FOI lies, as the institution is recognised for its strong connection between information technology knowledge and the business context. Students therefore had the opportunity to learn from an expert working at the intersection of technology and the real economy, making lectures of this kind particularly relevant and useful.
As the students pointed out, the lecture was highly interesting, clear and educational, and those in attendance considered it a privilege to listen to an experienced expert in the field of programming.
Text: Roman Šimunović
Photographs: Karla Bulum