University News Last updated 05 January 2024
BCU has announced its latest recipient of the Alumni of the Year award, which recognises and celebrates the outstanding achievements of our graduates.
Mark Cund completed a BSc (Hons) in Computing and Electronics in 2008, before returning to study for an MSc in Automotive Calibration and Control, which he graduated from in 2012.
After working for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for almost 20 years in roles including System Engineer and Autonomous Vehicle Control Manager, Mark is now the Technical Lead in Control and Automation at Komatsu Mining.
But Mark鈥檚 journey to university was anything but plain sailing, and he has had to fight constant battles with self-confidence and doubt in his abilities throughout his life and career.
He said: 鈥淲hen I left school, I did A-Levels at Sixth Form, but I didn鈥檛 pass. I joined the Army in Military Intelligence, but it didn鈥檛 work out for me. I even started a degree at a different university and dropped out. I felt like a failure and believed that I would always fail at anything I wanted to do.
鈥淎fter years of feeling not good enough to do anything, I realised that I was pretty good with computers, so I got a job as a Software Engineer at TRW. The company were very pro-university and wanted their staff to be well educated and qualified. I didn鈥檛 feel like I had the brains to complete a degree, I didn鈥檛 feel smart enough, or academic enough.
鈥淏ut I really wanted to work my way up at work and get promotions. To be able to get certain jobs, I needed a degree, which spurred me on. I knew that with a degree, I could take more control of my future and what I could do next. The company offered to pay for my degree, and thanks to being able to do the course part-time alongside my job, I had nothing to lose.
鈥淲hen I arrived at BCU, I was a mature student. I was 30 years old, had a mortgage to pay and a family to look after. This gave me a driving force to succeed.鈥�
Mark studied at BCU鈥檚 City North campus in Perry Barr, before the course was moved to Millennium Point, now part of BCU鈥檚 City Centre campus.
He said: 鈥淲hen I started my undergraduate degree, I was working at TRW, but by the time I graduated, I had started working for JLR. 探花直播 was also where I wanted to study; I鈥檓 from the area and I grew up in Redditch, so BCU was local to where I lived and worked at the time.
鈥淚 came back to BCU just a year after completing my undergraduate studies to do a postgraduate degree. The course was the only one in the country at the time that offered the flexibility to do it part-time alongside my job. So, I came back to Millennium Point every Monday afternoon for two years to complete my Master鈥檚 degree alongside working at JLR too.
鈥淐ompleting my Master鈥檚 degree was a big highlight for me; I didn鈥檛 need to do it, it wasn鈥檛 a requirement of my job, and it was a really hard course, but it provided me with another set of skills.鈥�
In his role at JLR, Mark worked in the research department, where he worked as an Engineer on a wide range of projects during his time there.
Projects included designing a mathematical algorithm to detect the attitude of a car when it was in motion to pull the electric seatbelt retractors, as well as leading on a project that would slam the breaks on a car if a collision is imminent, and he was even part of the team that introduced autonomous cars which drive themselves based on a pre-determined route.
The projects paved the way for him to work closely with government, as well as appear on TV shows.
He said: 鈥淥ne of my biggest career highlights was at JLR. We wanted to be able to steer, brake and accelerate a car with an iPhone. We thought that if you separate the controls of the car so they can be programmed by a computer, you have effectively created a motion-controlled system, so the autonomy that makes the decisions is the next logical step. If you can do what you do with your fingers on an iPhone, the next thing you can do is write a programme to mimic your fingers.
鈥淚t worked, and I demonstrated it on a test track to press outlets. Soon after, I was asked if I would demonstrate it live on BBC鈥檚 The One Show. It was scary, demonstrating with a beast of a Land Rover with two obstacles live on TV, but it was a lot of fun. It also happened to be on the same day as my interview to become a Chartered Engineer, so a big day for me.鈥�
Nowadays, Mark is Technical Lead in Control and Automation at Komatsu Mining. The company, who are based in Worcester, make mining equipment.
Mark鈥檚 role includes managing software and hardware engineers, analysing data, managing plans, solving technical and design problems, and make sure that all staff are following the correct processes.
But working in his chosen industry hasn鈥檛 been without its challenges.
He said: 鈥淚n this industry, you are always learning something because what you鈥檙e setting out to do essentially hasn鈥檛 been done before.聽
鈥淎 lot of my work has involved me and my team having to start from scratch and do a huge amount of research into what needs to be done. In my current role, I鈥檓 doing so much that I鈥檝e never done before, but that鈥檚 what keeps me going, always learning something new and discovering new ways of doing stuff.
鈥淭he challenge with engineering is that you must get comfortable with the discomfort. Solving problems is the job, so you have to deal with the discomfort of not knowing everything all the time.鈥�
After somewhat of a rocky start to his working life, Mark has enjoyed huge success in his career since graduating from BCU. But what is his secret?
He said: 鈥淭he word I鈥檇 use to describe my career so far is unplanned. I鈥檝e stumbled across things that have interested me, and opportunities have been placed in front of me, mostly based on my skills and experience. But I have never had a really fixed idea of what I should be doing, I just like knowing how things work, so I鈥檝e done what has interested me at that time.
鈥淭he biggest lesson I鈥檝e learned is to get good at something; it doesn鈥檛 matter what it is, but if you get good at something, you can get good at something else too, and so on.鈥�
With Mark accepting his Alumni of the Year award alongside graduating students from the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, he has several pieces of advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps.
He said: 鈥淏e resilient to your own thoughts and remember that everyone has to deal with imposter syndrome at some point in their working lives.
鈥淎lso, accept that you can鈥檛 do everything all at once, so break tasks down and deal with one thing at a time. You will soon become much more confident in yourself and your abilities.
鈥淎nd more than anything, be authentic. You can鈥檛 change who you are, so embrace where you鈥檝e come from and who you have become.鈥�
So, what does it mean for the graduate who assumed he鈥檇 never succeed in life, to become BCU's Alumni of the Year?
He said: 鈥淚t still hasn鈥檛 really sunk in, but it is a real honour to be awarded the title. I am not an emotional person, but my wife, who is also a fellow BCU graduate, was really delighted for me. I don鈥檛 see what I鈥檝e done in my career as an achievement as such, I鈥檓 just doing my job.
鈥淏ut even on days when just getting out of bed feels like hard work, I get up, get dressed, show up and do my job to my greatest abilities.鈥�