Mark’s journey to becoming Ada’s dynamic curriculum development lead and recent head of computer science began at school as part of the UK’s first cohort of computer science students in the late 1970s. Since then, with a degree in computer science and a master’s in distributed systems under his belt, he has notched up many years of experience in the computing industry and then as a senior university lecturer, creating and validating a range of exciting courses, including in cyber security and networking. It was while Mark was a volunteer STEM Ambassador, helping to inspire the next generation in STEM, that he decided to make the shift to teaching school/college students, believing this was where he could make fullest use of his enthusiasm and experience in all things computing, and so he embarked on his PGCE. At Ada, Mark’s inspirational leadership and teaching are helping to shape an outstanding, project-driven, industry-supported, computing curriculum, and empowering students to pursue their dream job in tech. This was recognised in June 2024, when Mark was selected from thousands of nominees to win the Silver Award for Further Education Lecturer of the Year in The Pearson National Teaching Awards!