Meet The Hazels Judges

John is a lawyer with a passion for space, enjoying supporting the growth of a broad range of space and satellite sector businesses and organisations. John has worked in the space industry for many years, with highlights including supporting international space-tech businesses to set up and grow their operations in the UK; being an active member of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Data and Space Industry Steering Group; and co-authoring a research paper "A discussion on policies and regulations governing the risks associated with radiation exposure for space tourism flight participants", published in the LSE Space Policy journal. John is an advocate for supporting the next generation of space sector leaders, with skills being at the very heart of that support.

Following a successful career as Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force, during which he held positions of Directors of Training and Education at the Ministry of Defence, and of RAF Personnel and Training Strategy, Martin then became the CEO of the Association of Colleges.

 Martin has since held the role of Professor of Leadership in Further Education and Skills at UCL Institute of Education and is currently Chair of Natural Cambridgeshire.

Joshua is currently leading Sandwell’s Planning Regeneration Team, focused on accelerating the delivery of £500m+ investment, across their core regeneration zones in Sandwell. This is aligned to SMBC’s Corporate £2.9bn Regeneration + Growth pipeline. Joshua is also Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) National Young Planner of 2023, representing Young Planners on an international, national and regional scale here in the West Midlands. He is trying to blend the art of science fiction, with the science of urban masterplanning and through supporting The Hazels he has an opportunity to give back to the future, from the present!

Zeshan is a cyber security specialist; a strategic leader passionate about propelling regional impact and growth in the cybersecurity landscape.As the architect of multiple award-winning programmes, Zeshan regularly speaks at events and webinars and has successfully guided hundreds of individuals into thriving IT and cybersecurity careers. Zeshan has a strong focus on cybersecurity, AI integration in the workplace, cloud computing, and infrastructure fundamentals.

Zeshan was a key member of the UK Cyber Security Council Formation team that established the UK Cyber Security Council, as Workstream Lead, Qualifications & Careers Framework.

Co-founder of Space Skills Alliance

Heidi started with her first telescope aged twelve and was quickly hooked. She has a degree in Physics and Space Science from the University of Leicester and a PhD in Astronomy from The Open University, where she analysed astronomical data sets (and baked prize- winning astronomy cakes).

As well as extensive data analysis skills, she is passionate about education and training for the space sector. She has been a mentor and organiser for Space School UK, and led the development of space apprenticeship qualifications in Cornwall.

Kathryn has worked in the space industry for longer than she cares to remember and, most recently was part of the leadership team which built and scaled In-Space Missions Ltd leading to a successful acquisition by BAE Systems Plc.  She has held technical and programmatic leadership positions in BAE Systems, and companies now forming part of Airbus UK specialising in both Space and Cyber Security.

She holds a PhD in Astrodynamics, an MSc in Spacecraft Engineering, and graduated from the University of Cambridge (King’s College) with an MA in Astrophysics, where she worked on the University Women’s Executive. 

Kathryn is passionate about gender equality and equity, particularly in relation to STEM activities and tries to instil this passion in her daughter and others with varying degrees of success.

Shahida is a defence and space expert with over 25 years of experience in spacecraft engineering, strategic business development and leadership across civil and military satellite programmes. Currently serving as an independent consultant, focusing on defence analysis, space capability, and strategic growth roadmaps for UK, NATO and FVEYS alliances having worked in Airbus, European Space Agency and most recently L3Harris Technologies as their UK/Europe Space Business Lead.

Shahida holds a BEng in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of London (Queen Mary College) and PGC in Conflict & Development in 20th Century from the Open University. She is also a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Growing up in Tower Hamlets, Shahida understands what it means to be aspirational and to have the building blocks for social mobility and growth and is passionate about equity and equality in socially deprived communities.

Olugbenga is a highly driven space technology subject matter expert of Space weather, embedded within the UK’s space ecosystem. His career progression spans academia, government and industry. In his current role, Olugbenga leads the Space hardware pillar of Portsmouth University Space ambition where he interfaces with key National and International players in the space domain including UKSA, ESA, NASA, The Catapults, regional space clusters and core-Space fairing industries.

His research endeavour looks at studying the dynamics of space weather phenomenon and its impact on Critical National Infrastructures (CNIs). He has deployed his expertise in bridging academic-industry relations and technological skills gap in the space sector while directly overlooking projects that are of immense benefit to the UK Space ecosystem.  

Carl has a Masters in Adult and Workplace Education and over 25 years of skill and capability building experience around the world, including for the past 7 years as the Global manager of Leadership and Learning at Satellite Communications company Inmarsat + Viasat.

Carl has deep applied experience in performance consulting and uncovering the skill gaps that hold back individual and organisational performance, and extensive experience deploying the UK apprenticeship levy to upskill, reskill, and grow future capabilities needed to excel in the UK space industry.

David is the Director of the North East Space Skills and Technology Centre, a £50m academic, industry and government investment that is set to transform the regional and wider UK Space economy.

Previously, in his Royal Navy career, David quickly understood the military need for Space. In the last 10 years he has worked on Space activity full time. Establishing a Space Capability team in 2015, he drove much of the SKYNET satellite communications programme; contributed to the Defence & National Space Strategies; and to the Space Industrial Plan. David also Chaired the NATO Satellite Communications Capability Team. His final military post was as Head of Space Capability at UK Space Command. Throughout his Space journey, David has been striving to increase the number of Space professionals as a key component of sector success, at the Regional, National, Industrial and International levels.