Our Team

Our Team

David Dangoor CBE

Honorary President

Dangoor Education provides opportunities across the learning spectrum with sponsorship of Westminster Academy, Open University Massive Open Online Courses, STEM university scholarships, the Dangoor Centre for Medical Education at the Royal Society of Medicine and the Dangoor Centre for Personalised Medicine at Bar Ilan University. Dangoor Education’s sponsorship of the UK, EU Space Design Competition and Galactic Challenges builds on the fantastic legacy of Sir Naim Dangoor, who supported the Competition for a number of years.

Marcus du Sautoy FRS, OBE

Patron

Is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Formerly a Fellow of All Souls College, and Wadham College, he is now a Fellow of New College. He was previously President of the Mathematical Association, an EPSRC Senior Media Fellow and a Royal Society University Research Fellow. His academic work concerns mainly group theory and number theory. In October 2008, he was appointed to the Simonyi Professorship for the Public Understanding of Science, succeeding the inaugural holder Richard Dawkins.

Dr Randall Perry

Founder of SSE²F

Dr Perry is the founder of the the Space, Science, Environmental, Engineering Foundation (SSE2F) and its Honorary Chair. The SSEF is a registered UK charity. It supports the 15-18 year old students UKEU Middle East and Africa Space Design Competitions and the 9-14 year old students  Galactic Challenge, and the 15-18 year old students Environmental Design Challenge. He is a director of the Global Space Design Challenge , which sole purpose is to support the SSEF. He has held the US and Canada National Science Foundation Fellowship at University of Oxford and as a past Royal Society Fellow at Imperial College London. He has a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington, and is a certified NASA astrobiologist.  His current focus is on education. In addition, he has published widely in his areas of interest of Earth and planetary sciences, geochemistry, microbiology and education. He is the author of six novels under RS Perry.  As a script writer he is a member of the Writers Guild of America West. In his spare time he enjoys trekking, scuba diving and flying helicopters and aircraft. He has since visited many of the Earth’s extreme habitats including diving in ‘Alvin’ the deep submersible. He has sailed across the Atlantic in a small sailboat.

Jenny Lyons

CEO of SSEF

A passionate believer in the benefits that practical science brings to school based learning. Jenny has taught in both the private and public sectors, and additionally worked with a variety of agencies to promote and fund the setting up of Science Clubs. She received a BSc from University of Westminster in biological sciences. She has attended University of Sussex and received an endorsement to teach chemistry after receiving her PGCE from University of Middlesex.
Having worked voluntarily for the UK SDC, she is now excited to have the opportunity to extend their project based learning methods to a wider audience, and is looking forward to the continued success of the Space Science Engineering Foundation (SSEF), the EUSDC, MEASDC and UKSDC and Galactic Challenges.
When not working with SSEF and GC, Jenny enjoys the great outdoors by taking part in Open Water Swimming challenges, as a member of the UK Wild Camping group, and as an assessor and trainer for the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.

Adam Braithwaite

Trustee Representative

Adam completed his Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at Imperial College in the summer of 2015, and is now a quantitative strategist at Goldman Sachs focused on pricing and modelling of derivative products across the securities business. In his scarce free time, he enjoys flying, scuba diving, and stealing unattended pizza at the competition finals.

Adam was the UKSDC organising chair for 2013/14.

Alina Vizireanu

Romanian EUSDC Coordinator
Board Member

Consultant for Space Education projects | Business Analyst at Dalcour Maclaren
An advocate of exploring the world and beyond. Alina has studied Geospatial Information Systems and Physical Geography to Masters degree.

Mónica Juárez Jiménez

Spanish Board Representative

Mónica Juárez Jiménez is a head of department for physics and chemistry and a teacher of Physics, Chemistry, and Industrial Technology with experience in the development of Java2EE applications. She holds the Google 2 certificate and has obtained the First Certificate in English. Although she has a beginner level in French, her ability to communicate in multiple languages allows her to have a multicultural perspective in the classroom. Since 2019, she has participated in the EUSDC competitions, and in 2022, she participated in the ISSDC, indicating her interest in participating in academic events related to science and technology.

Mónica is recognized for her teamwork skills and her great ability to motivate her students to achieve their academic and personal goals. She always challenges her students to exceed their expectations and think big, make it possible. These skills and her focus on student development make her a highly effective and appreciated teacher.

Trisha Saxena

Alumni and Trustee Representative

Trisha holds a Master of Science degree in Physics from Imperial College London. While studying, she was recognised as the Female Undergraduate of the Year in 2017. She currently works as an Investment Associate at the NATO Innovation Fund, a European venture capital fund investing in promising defence, security and space startups. Trisha has been on the Organising Board and a judge at the UK Space Design Competition since 2016, prior to which she competed in the competition herself and was elected to the team representing the UK at the International Space Settlement Design Competition in 2015. She is also the outgoing Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Space Science and Engineering Foundation.