The first Apple Developer Academy opened in Brazil in 2013, with the goal of providing the tools and training for aspiring entrepreneurs, developers, and designers to find and create jobs in the thriving iOS app economy. Since 2013 Apple has opened more than a dozen academies across the world with two more on the way: one in Korea, and one in Detroit. The programme has empowered students around the world with app development and entrepreneurial training, many of whom have gone on to start their own businesses, create and sell apps on the App Store, and give back to their communities.

Across the world, whether students are in Naples, Italy, or Jakarta, Indonesia, academy participants learn the fundamentals of coding as well as core professional competencies, design, and marketing, ensuring graduates have the full stack of skills needed. The curriculum also incorporates Apple’s values throughout the coursework, encouraging students to design inclusively and make a positive impact in the world. Apple offers two distinct training programmes as part of its academy: 30-day foundations courses that cover specific topic areas.

Applications for the first academy cohort in Detroit — Apple’s first Developer Academy in the US — open this week. The academy, part of Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, is scheduled to open this October in a newly redesigned space in downtown Detroit. All Michigan residents 18 and over are welcomed to apply, regardless of prior coding experience, at developeracademy.msu.edu/students.

Antonio Chiappetta; Photo Credits: Apple newsroom

This is Antonio Chiappetta, 25, who was part of the very first Apple Developer Academy cohort in Naples, Italy, in 2016. A computer engineer by training, he was inspired by the hands-on learning opportunities and close collaboration with mentors he met at the academy. Antonio credits his time at the academy with helping him gain the skills and confidence that power his career today:

“The Apple Developer Academy is not just about learning to code. It’s about breaking barriers and empowering students, and has infused me with the enthusiasm and curiosity that drive me today.”

Arthur Motelevicz, Photo Credits: Apple newsroom

For many academy graduates, the community aspect is as important as the hard skills they learn through their coursework. Students have the opportunity to learn from new colleagues from different personal and professional backgrounds, each of whom brings new ideas and life experiences to their app designs and business plans.

Arthur Motelevicz, 36, met his future business partner at the Apple Developer Academy in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2013 — and now counts 11 academy graduates among his 25 employees. After graduating from the academy, Motelevicz decided to dedicate himself to entrepreneurship in pursuit of a new way to mix coding with music via  Super Pads, a DJ app.

“I love being able to work with amazing people, learn every day, and experiment with combining coding and music. The Apple Developer Academy gave me the strength to pursue and implement my ideas into something that I will spend my life working on.”

Aisyah Widya Nur Shadrina; Photo Credits: Apple newsroom

Aisyah Widya Nur Shadrina, 23, and her all-women team used the front-facing camera and machine learning on iPhone to create Hearo, an app that can translate sign language into voice and text, providing a more seamless way to communicate with deaf people. This year, Shadrina and her team will attend Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference virtually. She says she looks forward to learning more about new Apple technologies, frameworks, and tools that can help developers build more innovative and inclusive apps.

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take place June 7 through 11, in an all-online format. WWDC will feature hundreds of sessions for developers of all ages and backgrounds — including hundreds of current and former Apple Developer Academy students — to learn about the new technologies, tools, and frameworks they rely on to build innovative and platform-differentiating apps and games.

Petar has been part of the company for a little over a year and is a driving force in the BI department. Staykov noted:

“I am jovial to develop my career in Bulgaria and at the same time to work on creating a product with no parallel anywhere in the world.”

Peter Staykov, Product Director at AtScale

He started his career in the company as a Senior BI Architect. After that Petar became a BI Lead, and since the beginning of March he is combining the leading of the Business Intelligence team with the duties of the Product Director. The new position gives Petar an opportunity with a team of Bulgarian IT experts and American veterans in technologies. Staykov commented:

“I am eager to take this adventure. At AtScale, we prove that the specialists here are in no way inferior to these of the leading technological countries.”

This new position will allow Peter to be a driving force in the development of the company’s product. A coincidence is what involves Staykov in the adventure called AtScale. Some of his friends told him that they are part of a company that has set an ambitious goal – to create a virtual data warehouse. The new Product Director of AtScale also added:

“At first, I thought that this was impossible. This task sounded like a utopia to me. Two days later I had a meeting with AtScale’s Vice President – Momchil Michailov. Seeing the passion in his eyes and also the motivation of my friends I could say the decision-making process was quick. I don’t mean it was easy, because leaving a team I  was developing for so many years seemed unthinkable at that time. A year later, I am convinced I made the right decision.”

AtScale’s General Manager for Europe – Momchil Michailov commented:

“Petar is an exceptionally professional and proves it every day in the last 12 months. I highly value his desire to improve himself and learn new things. Ever since our first meeting, I knew he was the ideal candidate for AtScale. Time proved that this is right.:

Petar graduates with a bachelor’s degree in “Telecommunications technologies” from the Technical University of Sofia. After that, he got a master’s degree in “E-business and e-governance” from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. He started his professional development in his student years as a software engineer. Before joining the AtScale team, Petar was part of the international giant Coca-Cola for over 12 years. There he started his career in Business Intelligence (BI). In the last few years, he was leading a team of 40 professionals.

Petar Staykov’s new role is another example of the success of the AtScale Bulgarian dream team. In the last 18 months, the experts working in Sofia are an integral part of every update of the company’s product.

In fact, more than 90% of AtScale’s software engineering is being done in Bulgaria. Just recently, Silicon Valley-based organization announced, a Bulgarian expert will develop the company project to boost machine learning.