How does it work?

The Mendix University program has helped many professors around the world in implementing a hands-on course in their Business and IT curricula.

As a professor you can sign up to the University program free of charge and receive all the materials you need to implement Mendix in your course(s).

There are three popular courses that have proven to be very successful:

1) Introduction workshop

- Step-by-Step beginner’s case to learn about the strengths of Model-Driven Development (MDD).

Example case: Pizza Mario (See ‘Get started’ section in the Community section)

2) BPM Course

- analysis of a business process and consequent implementation in Mendix.

Example case:

Title: Business Information Systems Lab
Type: Theoretical and practical group assignment (3-4 students).
Material:
– Case description
– Mendix and, possibly, any other process modeling tool (e.g., BiZZdesigner, BPMN, UML activity diagrams, ARIS)
– Mendix license, tutorial material and e-learning environment
Required knowledge:
1. The student knows how to set up a project goal and how to formulate project objectives.
2. The student knows how to analyze and model processes and data using a business process modeling tool. The student knows how to analyze and model data.
3. Students have completed the Mendix beginner’s tutorial.
Goals:
1. To learn to model and analyse internal business and control processes, including pinpointing problems, and options for improvements
2. Gain practical experience with using modeling and application development tools to illustrate organizational business processes.
3. Understand how processes can be implemented, packaged and delivered using Model-Driven Development technology.
4. To know how to apply concepts, methods and tools for business process support in practice (BP modeling and analysis tools, Workflow management systems, Database technology)
5. To be able to define requirements for process-oriented information systems in a systematic and comprehensive way. 
Course Organization:
– Project teams with 4 or 5 students
– Each team chooses its own case (Examples: Modeling processes from a marketplace (E.g., Ebay, Amazon,Barnsandnoble, cduniverse, peopod, Reebok), End-to-End Business Process Analysis and Automation in a Travel Agency, Modeling processes of municipality services (e.g., the wheelchair process by the city of Enschede, etc.).
– In the first half of the project all teams submit an analysis of their business process
– All teams identify the part of their model that they want to automate and implement in Mendix during the second part of the project
– In weekly meetings with their supervisor the different teams discuss their project progress
– All team members will have to be available during these meetings!
– At the end of the project all teams present the working Mendix application in front of the class.
Deliverable report:
• Introduction chapter that includes a description of the case, approach, methods & tools used.
• Chapter with a short explanation of the requirements and assumptions underlying the models and a description of the modeled processes (including interfaces to external parties) and related data models and screen shots of the diagrams and data models.
• The electronic version of the models in Mendix (.MPR file) and/or any other process modeling tool.

3) System integration Project

- integrating several systems using web services

Example case:
Business Process Integration Lab – BPIL
The assignment
Type:
Theoretical and practical group assignment (3-4 students).
Material:
Case description
Mendix and, possibly, any other process modeling tool/notation (e.g., BiZZdesigner, BPMN, UML activity diagrams, ARIS)
Mendix license, tutorial and e-learning environment
Required knowledge:
1.The student knows how to set up a project goal and how to formulate project objectives.
2.The student knows how to analyze and model processes and data using a business process modeling tool. The student knows how to analyze and model data.
3.Students have completed the Mendix tutorial.
Goals:
1. To learn to model and analyze inter and intra-organizational business and control processes, including pinpointing problems, and options for improvements
2. Gain practical experience with using modeling and application development tools to illustrate (inter)organizational business processes.
3. Understand how processes can be implemented, packaged and delivered as a service using web-service technology.
4. Understand how web services can be orchestrated using processes.
Task:
Take the following steps:
a. Select a case. You may choose one of the proposed cases or (following the example cases) find one yourself! The only requirements for the selection of a case are that you should have at least two organizations involved in the case and a reasonably plausible process automation “story”.
b. Identify the parties (actors) that are involved in the case and their relationships.
c. Identify and model the high level business processes in which the previously identified parties are involved within the context of the case. For business process modeling you are allowed to use any modeling tool (Mendix is recommended, any other tool is acceptable).
d. Model the primary process for one of the actors in more detail (N.B. this should be the “main” actor in the case). This is the process you are going to implement/automate during the coming weeks. So try to be as precise as possible but do not make your process too large! You may have to acquire more information, e.g., via the web (see the links mentioned in the case description documents; if you can’t find any be creative). Also make sure the process assumes some interaction with at least one other actor!
e. Analyze the data that is generated/used during the primary process (identified at the point d) and create a data model of it (use Mendix for that). Design also all the necessary forms for your data objects.
f. Then break the primary process (identified at the point d) into small sub-processes or activities. Think of these sub-processes/activities in terms of granular “services” and analyze for each “service” whether it is provided (i.e., produced internally) by the selected actor or consumed by the selected actor (i.e., provided by another actor involved in the case).
g. Implement all the provided “services” by means of Mendix microflows.
h. Invoke the provided services in the primary process. Make sure your primary process works so far.
i. Implement all the consumed services. Say we must implement the consumed service A. Take the perspective of the actor providing the consumed service A and create its data model, forms and microflow(s) necessary for the implementation of A. Make sure your services work.
j. Publish all consumed services as a web-service. If A is a consumed service publish A’s microflow as web-service.
k. Invoke all consumed services in the primary process of your main actor and make sure your process works.
l. Publish the primary process as a web-service and invoke it from a process of a 3-rd actor (say a customer or end-user).

Product:
•Introduction chapter that includes a description of the case, approach, methods & tools used.
•Chapter with a short explanation of the requirements and assumptions underlying the models and a description of the modeled processes (including interfaces to external parties) and related data models and screen shots of the diagrams and data models.
•The electronic version of the models in Mendix (.MPR file) and/or any other process modeling tool.