Meet the team

Sir Julian Young (Chair)

Until recently, Sir Julian held the post of Director General Air in the Ministry of Defence, where he was responsible for the acquisition and support of all fixed-wing military aircraft.

He also was the Defence Engineering Champion for the past 5 years, where he energized collaboration across the Armed Forces, Government Departments and Engineering Bodies to operationalize STEM and institutionalize professionalization.

Carol Davenport

Director, NUSTEM

Carol Davenport is a senior lecturer at Northumbria University and the Director of the NUSTEM outreach group. She is passionate about education and STEM as a way of improving the life chances of young children. Carol’s research seeks to provide evidence of ‘what works’ in STEM engagement and careers-related learning.

Carol has worked in education, as a teacher, teacher educator, and lecturer for 25 years. She is also Vice-chair of governors of a large secondary academy, and a trustee and governor at a primary academy. In her ‘spare time’ Carol writes science textbooks, and has recently published a story book for toddlers based on robotic exploration of the solar system.

Hilary Leevers

CEO, EngineeringUK

Hilary joined EngineeringUK as CEO in January 2019 and leads the organisation in its ambition to inform and inspire young people and grow the number and diversity of those coming into engineering. Before joining EngineeringUK she was Head of Education and Learning at Wellcome, building a team to improve science education through research, advocacy, funding and interventions.

She is a governor of a 5-16 comprehensive school.

Ian Menzies

Senior Education Officer for Sciences and Learning for Sustainability, Education Scotland

Ian Menzies is a Senior Education Officer within Education Scotland, the Executive Agency of the Scottish Government with responsibility for quality and improvement in Scottish Education. He leads on supporting the science curriculum for 3-18 year olds and, within Education Scotland, leads on the implementation of Scotland’s STEM Education and Training Strategy. 

Ian also oversees aligned national programmes including the Raising Aspirations in Science Education (RAiSE) Programme and the Improving Gender Balance and Equality Programme. In addition, Ian also leads on the embedding of Learning for Sustainability, including outdoor learning, within Scotland’s curriculum.

Jacqui Ferguson

Jacqui Ferguson is an experienced CEO from the technology industry. Jacqui is the former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services UK, Ireland, Middle East Mediterranean and Africa. Jacqui is a Trustee of Engineering UK and is a member of the Scottish First Ministers Advisory Board for Women and Girls aimed at improving Gender Equality.

Jacqui chaired the public services strategy board for the Confederation of Business and Industry and was a board member of the Tech Partnership, the industry body aimed at improving UK technology skills. She is passionate about what technology can enable, getting young people from all backgrounds interested in STEM, advancing more women into executive careers and progressing gender equality.

Nike Folayan

Co-founder and Chair, Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers

Nike is currently Technical Director and the Technical Discipline Leader within the Transport and infrastructure Division of WSP. Nike is chair and co-founder of AFBE-UK a not for profit organisation which promotes higher achievements in education and engineering particularly among people from black and minority ethnicity (BME) backgrounds. 

Paul Kett

Director General, Department for Education

Paul Kett has been a Director General at the Department for Education (DfE) since February 2017. He is currently the Director-General for the Higher Education, Further Education, International and Transformation Group. He also chairs the DfE Digital, Data and Technology Committee, is the DfE Head of the Policy Profession and sponsors the cross-Government Policy Innovation Unit and Policy Profession Unit.

Paul is the Departmental Race Champion and part of the cross-government Race Champions Network. He was previously Director General for Education Standards, having joined DfE as Director for Teachers and Teaching.

Sinead Lynch

Country Chair, Shell UK

Sinead has been the Shell UK Country Chair since September 2016. She is Chair of the Board of the Shell UK Pension Trust and a Trustee of the Shell Foundation. Sinead also Co-Chairs the BEIS Hydrogen Advisory Council and is a member of WPI’s COVID Recovery Commission. In 2018 she became a Fellow of the Energy Institute.

Prior to her appointment to Shell, Sinead worked at BG Group where, as EVP Safety and Sustainability, she was a member of the Executive Committee. Following the announcement of Shell’s offer to acquire BG Group in April 2015, Sinead led the BG side of a combined Integration Planning Team and post deal completion, was a member of the leadership team that integrated BG into Shell.

Nick King

Group Director, Network Services, Network Rail

Nick joined British Rail in 1986 and has spent his career championing change in all aspect of the railway system. He holds a Degree in Production Engineering and is a Chartered Engineer who puts passenger and freight user expectations at the centre of all that he does.

Making our railway fit for the future is the driving force behind Nick’s current challenge and working to make engineering an attractive place for all to work is one of those challenges.

Hilary Leevers (Chair)

CEO, EngineeringUK

Hilary joined EngineeringUK as CEO in January 2019 and leads the organisation in its ambition to inform and inspire young people and grow the number and diversity of those coming into engineering. Before joining EngineeringUK she was Head of Education and Learning at Wellcome, building a team to improve science education through research, advocacy, funding and interventions.

She is a governor of a 5-16 comprehensive school.

Amanda Dickins

Head of Impact and Development, STEM Learning UK

Amanda Dickins is Head of Impact and Development at STEM Learning, working towards a great STEM education for every young person in the UK - her photo was taken on a visit to CERN with winners of the annual STEM Inspiration Awards.

She chairs the Data, Evaluation and Impact Group for the National Centre for Computing Education and is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Science and Media Museum. Prior to joining STEM Learning, Amanda worked for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where her work encompassed skills for research and innovation, apprenticeships and the Perkins Review of Engineering Skills.

Zaheera Soomar

Head of Education, Anglo American

Zaheera is currently Global Head of Education for Anglo American overseeing Education programmes across 8 regions. She has a passion for social impact, sustainable development, gender & racial equality, and human rights and has worked internationally with governments in partnership with civil society and the private sector to transform and improve education attainment at all levels. 

She is a board member of NGOs focused on disaster recovery, homelessness and education. Currently completing her Doctorate on Responsible Business and Future of Work. 

Gareth Thistleton

Head of Social Investment and Sponsorship, Shell UK

Gareth heads up Shell’s CSR team in the UK, encompassing STEM education, low-carbon entrepreneurship and supporting local communities. He is passionate about bringing people together to tackle problems and has been involved in The Code from its inception when he sat on the Government’s Year of Engineering advisory board. 

Prior to working at Shell, Gareth worked in the third and public sectors, including roles at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, where he specialised in education and health outreach, as well as The Children’s Society and in Westminster, where he worked with a cross-party consortium of MPs to collaborate on charitable giving.

Janey Irving

STEM Education Officer, Education Scotland

Janey Irving is an Education Officer within Education Scotland, the Executive Agency of the Scottish Government with responsibility for quality and improvement in Scottish Education. She is part of the Education Scotland team leading on the implementation of Scotland’s STEM Education and Training Strategy. 

Janey is based in the north of Scotland and works with the Northern Alliance regional improvement collaborative and northern STEM partners to support regional STEM developments.

Melanie Washington

Director, Tomorrow’s Engineers

Melanie has worked within the STEM education landscape for nearly 20 years and been Director at EngineeringUK for two years working towards their ambition to inform and inspire young people and grow the number and diversity of those coming into engineering.

Prior to working for EngineeringUK Melanie has held positions at STEMNET, The Royal Academy of Engineering, The Royal Society of Chemistry and also worked as a research scientist at GSK for six years after graduating.

Shane McCracken

Director, Mangorolla CIC

Shane McCracken, Executive Director of Mangorolla CIC, has been running online school engagement programmes, such as I'm an Engineer, Get me out of here, since 2003.

The company's STEM outreach projects have run in countries around the world including Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Kenya, Germany, Spain, UK, Ireland and the USA.

Jo Trigg

Director of Communications and Engagement, Royal Academy of Engineering

Jo oversees the Academy’s flagship campaign to encourage more young people to consider a career in engineering, This is Engineering, and the Ingenious public engagement with engineering grant scheme.

She has more than ten years’ experience in communications and engagement, although, had she been inspired by effective STEM engagement, would probably have become an engineer.