Mark Wakabayashi, Software Engineering Reseacher, UQ

Mr Mark Wakabayashi, Bachelor of Information Technology (Honours 1), 2006, and Bachelor of Arts, 2005, says:

I've always had an interest in computers and programming, but I didn't want to be limited to purely technical work. I combined an IT degree with cognitive science because of an interest in artificial intelligence. IT is becoming a critical factor in researching various aspects of biology, and there's lots of interesting work to be done there. I worked on projects with a couple of my lecturers that apply computer-based modelling and prediction to problems in biology.

I say to students firstly to follow your interests. When you love what you're doing, you'll do well because you won't have to fight to motivate yourself. Secondly, set high goals and don't settle for 'good enough'. When you're motivated, you can achieve, and UQ gives you the opportunity to excel. The courses go beyond the basic technical IT skills and the staff always encouraged and supported me. And it's a really nice campus at St Lucia.

I managed to receive Dean's commendations for high achievement, and in my honours project I developed a computational model of an organism's physical motion and its neural circuit, and used it to show how it could work in real life. The program I wrote won 'best software project' at the School of ITEE's annual student innovation expo, which was nice.

Since I graduated, I've started work as a software engineer on an international research project here at UQ. Down the track, I'm keen to keep applying robust software engineering processes and design practices to a range of problems. I don't feel limited to any particular domain - the theory and skills I learned at UQ have opened doors to areas I never dreamed of.