Damian Fozard

Year of Graduation: 1991

  • Course BSc Computer Science
  • School School of Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Nationality British
  • Career industry Engineering Industrial IT
  • Current job title Founder & CEO
  • Current Company CoreAVI

To grow and succeed we need great foundations, I learned at Wolverhampton they come from applying the rigor and discipline of your craft.

My favourite memories are the friends I made during my time as Wolverhampton Poly. I spent a lot of spare time in the coffee shop in the Student Union drinking milky coffee (served by wonderful friendly staff in blue aprons with warm black country accents) and chatting with friends not just from my course but from modern languages, art & design and psychology.
To quote one of my lecturers, "Rigor and discipline of your craft". The course is built from first principle and foundation knowledge, I found later in my career when ever I was faced with something new I could rely on my foundational knowledge to give me a head start in understanding how to use, exploit or enhance new technologies. I lead a company that is the world leader in our field - we have incredibly talented and deeply knowledgeable engineers, programmers and managers. I need to be able to engage with them as a peer and to be able to gain respect for my technical knowledge. Wolverhampton gave me a thorough grounding to be able to do this. Although I no longer program any code I still need to understand the challenges my teams face and to make sound business decisions based on that understanding.
I founded and run a company that makes safety critical software and hardware used in everything from aircraft flight controls to advance driving systems. My role is both to give strategic direction to the business and to be a technology visionary making sure the company remains ahead of the market and drives innovation. One of my key responsibilities is to consistently and clearly articulate our technology strategy and to attract the best talent in our field to join our engineering, product development and business teams. I play a leadership role in industry bodies and with key customers in developing long term technology strategies. This leadership has led to the creation of two new open standards, new FAA regulatory guidance and for the company to be a leading member of safety working groups for self driving car technology.
My highlight so far is the Nasa X59 project that we recently completed and that will fly for the first time in 2022. Not only is this a special aircraft which has the goal of re-introducing supersonic passenger flight but the technology we supplied was cutting edge. We provide the graphics and high performance computation for the unique XVS (external visions system) which combines video, sensors, maps, radar, flight information and augmented vision in a single pilot display while flying at Mach 1.5. It is always special to work on a project with Nasa as they are always looking to push the boundaries and there is a noticeable excitement in the teams that work on these projects. Another special moment was when visiting a air museum with my teenage children and watching an Apache helicopter land. The crew were doing test flights of the upgraded helicopter systems and we were able to speak with them between their flights. My company had supplied the graphics systems for the upgrade and it was exciting to share that with my family.
Wolverhampton has a history as a polytechnic and therefore is about learning for preparation for your life ahead. That was my experience, it was about more than just getting a qualification, it was about gaining knowledge, skills and confidence to apply your learning. The sandwich year was an important part of that preparation. Taking what was taught in the class room and applying it in real life situations, I think that was a significant advantage not just in helping me find a job after graduation but because of the skills I learned during the year in industry.