Hrvoje Josip Balen, M. Eng., was born in Zagreb where he attended elementary and secondary school. He finished secondary school - Technical School Ruđer Bošković - in 1993. In the same year, he enrolled in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb, study program Electrical engineering, sub-specialization Industrial electronics. Professor Magjarevic was his mentor for the graduate thesis, topic: Document Management in an Accredited Measurement Laboratory. He graduated in 2002. In 1998, he became one of the founders and a member of the Algebra Open University Council, where he acts as a Board member responsible for the Marketing and Sales Department within which he establishes and coordinates the marketing and sales team, develops public exposure strategies, plans new services, manages public relations, communicates directly with key partners and bodies of state power. In 2007 he participated in the founding of the Algebra University College, and in June 2009 he became President of the Algebra University College Board. Within the University College he carries out the role of a team leader in researching the needs of the labour market and he takes care of positioning and promoting the institution in the public and conducting public relations. In October 2008, he became the Vice President of the ICT Association at the Croatian Association of Employers. In March 2010, he became a representative member of the Adult Education Council, where he participates in monitoring adult education systems in the country and proposes measures for its development. Moreover, Hrvoje co-operated projects involving e-learning, web service development for clients, ISO 9001, implementation of advanced IT training methods and consulting for key customers. Since 2007 he has been actively participating in the WinDays where he participates as a lecturer at professional conferences. He is a member of the Croatian Information Technology Association, where he received a reward for contributing to the education of ICT professionals and users. Among many other roles, Hrvoje is a Chairman of the IPMA Advanced Courses Education Board. Within IPMA, Algebra was supported by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce through the recognized importance of training projects and program leaders. Algebra, as one of the initiators of Project Management Education in Croatia, has in this way received the highest recognition in the field of project management training.
