Beyond the CV: MARA, the platform born from the Challenges of H-FARM College

MARA was born from the insight of four Master’s students at H-FARM College — Michele Gualano, Alessandro Della Rocca, Rita Zhubi, and Alessandro Pio Alvigi — who, just two months into their program, realized that a CV is no longer enough to convey the true value of one’s skills.

This awareness didn’t emerge by chance, but developed within the H-FARM College ecosystem, where students are constantly engaged in challenges, labs, and projects with companies from various industries. These experiences are a defining feature of the College’s educational model: starting from a real company brief, students work in teams to develop original solutions, which are then presented in a final pitch and evaluated directly by the company.

By experiencing firsthand this approach based on real projects, collaboration, and direct interaction with the professional world, the four students identified an opportunity: to turn this experience into a scalable system.

How MARA works: from theory to real-world proof

This is how MARA came to life — a B2Education platform designed to go beyond the traditional CV model, favoring an evaluation based on “proof of work.” This approach is even more relevant in a context where artificial intelligence and transformations in the workplace are redefining skills and roles, making a simple list of past experiences no longer sufficient to demonstrate one’s value.

The platform is built on the interaction between three main actors:

• Students, who work on real challenges, build concrete portfolios, and can stand out for their abilities even before graduating
• Companies, which gain access to innovative solutions and identify talent already tested in real scenarios
• Universities, which monitor performance and participation, strengthening an experiential learning model

The first live test: a concrete proof of concept

MARA was first tested during the H-FARM hackathon organized in collaboration with YouTuber Jakidale. On that occasion, the platform managed a full end-to-end event: 157 participants, 30 teams, and 6 judges worked entirely within the MARA environment to collaborate, organize activities, and submit their final projects.

The H-ACK event is just the beginning. H-FARM College and the MARA team are currently testing the platform further, extending its use to other ongoing projects.