SSEF Team
Jenny Lyons
CEO
Jenny Lyons has been with SSEF for more than a decade, evolving from a volunteer organiser into Director of Education and, latterly, CEO with a team of staff. Jenny is an expert in the delivery of secondary school science education, having worked as part of a ‘flying squad’, sent to science departments to assist in raising standards. It was whilst working as a science teacher that Jenny brought a team of students to an SSEF event: the impact was so immediate, obvious and powerful that she became a Volunteer, assisting at competitions.
As a Volunteer, Jenny became known for her skill in liaising with the trustees, the SSEF’s founder, the other volunteers, the sponsors, the UK Space Agency, diverse schools and regional universities. Enthused by the SSEF mission, she utilised her expertise, managing the educational and organisational change which has been fundamental to the expansion of SSEF’s work around the UK, EU and Africa, and in building a staff team whilst maintaining the ethos of a volunteer-strong charity. After a decade of events for school students, Jenny still takes a teacher’s delight in interacting with the students and in seeing the transformational impact of SSEF activities upon those young people.
Initially recognised and recruited by SSEF Founder, Randall Perry, Jenny maintains and promotes the founder’s original vision of a high impact, widely accessible industry simulation which provides an experience beyond any typical ‘school project’. With the staff team,volunteers, trustees and founder, Jenny has helped SSEF expand its efforts around the UK, into the EU and, recently, into Africa, whilst expanding across age groups, across disciplines and whilst handling the need to find income to fund the expansions.
Beyond this, and because of this, Jenny is a champion for the power of SSEF as a volunteer-rich organisation, and finds joy in working with the large, diverse pool of talented volunteers and competition veterans who are so much a part of the SSEF’s world.
Alison Ahearn
Director of Education
Alison Ahearn is the SSEF Director of Education, with a particular remit for Educational Development of the SSEF programmes, for wider audiences and extending to Earth-centric Environmental Design Challenges. Back in 2009, Alison was one of the Imperial teaching staff who responded to Randall Perry’s call for volunteers for a new outreach activity called UKSDC and, after serving as a volunteer and trustee, became Director of Education after formally retiring from Imperial. Alison still contributes to teaching on the MEng at Imperial, on industry-centric modules relating to construction practice, management, law and business. She has won awards for her ‘radical innovation’ in construction education, called The Constructionarium, which has been adopted at universities in the UK and abroad.
Recent developments by Alison include creating the Environmental Design Challenge for UK and a new version tailored for delivery in Barbados. She has also been developing a ‘students-as-partners’ approach to creating programmes to serve youth organisations, such as Ministry of Defence Air Cadets.
Alison practised as a solicitor in Sydney Australia before taking up a post at Imperial College London in 1990, specialising in information systems for construction law barristers. She became an Imperial teacher in 1996 and was made a Principal Teaching Fellow in recognition of her education innovation for industry.
Sam Hession
Head of Events and Administration
Sam originally joined the SSE²F as the programme coordinator of the Global Space Design Challenge (GSDC), who’s sole purpose is to support the SSE²F charity. She has since become the secretary for the SSE²F and its overall Programme Coordinator. Sam is calm and efficient and as our Programme Coordinator, she enjoys using the super organised side of her personality to ensure that all our events run smoothly. Previously she spent 25 years providing world class customer service in the air with British Airways. Now that her wings have been clipped she is looking forward to being involved in all phases of the SSE²F charity programmes as well as organising and running the GSDC with the rest of the team. On her days off she can be found hanging out at the beach, paddle boarding, or officiating a basketball game.
Bethan Mann
IT, Web Master, and Administration
When Bethan is not working she likes to spend her free time with her family, taking her young son on trips out to national parks, sea-life centres and the zoo.