About us

Prof. Lucy Berthoud

Co-chair

Dr Lucy Berthoud has worked for 25 years in Spacecraft research and in industry. She is a senior teaching fellow at the University of Bristol in the Aerospace Engineering department.

She also works at Thales Alenia Space UK spacecraft manufacturers in the Spaceflight Systems department as a senior systems engineer on Mars Sample Return Missions, Nanosats, Lunar dust experiments and Planetary Protection. She is co-leading the University of Bristol CubeSat programme and is Chair of the Space Universities Network. She has also worked at NASA and the European Space Agency. She holds a ‘Best of Bristol lecturer’ and University of Bristol Education Awards.

Prof. Kate Smith

Co-chair

Katharine graduated with a BEng(Hons) in Aerospace Engineering from Queen Mary University of London in 2000.

She was then awarded an EPSRC studentship and went on to complete her PhD research on the Characterisation of electrospray properties in high vacuum at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, which she received from the University of London in 2005. Katharine then worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Electrospray research group at Queen Mary University of London until September 2008 when she was appointed as a Lecturer of Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary. She took up a post as a Lecturer in Aerospace Propulsion at UoM in August 2010. In December 2013 she became a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Katharine was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016 and Reader in 2021. Katharine's research interests are centered on space systems engineering with a particular focus on nano-satellite systems, electric propulsion, space robotics, and in situ resource utilisation.

Mr. Ian Raper

Co-chair

Ian is an Associate Professor in the Technology Management Group of the Department of Space and Climate Physics. He is also the Departmental Graduate Tutor responsible for MSc programmes in Systems Engineering Management.

Prior to joining MSSL, he had 22 years of industrial experience working on all aspects of the systems design lifecycle from user requirements through to integration, acceptance, and deployment. Ian is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering. He holds an MSc in Systems Engineering from UCL and in 2015 gained a PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher and Professional Education.

Ms. Debra Gray, CBE

Co-chair

Debs is Principal and Chief Executive of Hull College. She holds two Master’s degree’s in Education Leadership and Criminal Justice and is currently completing a Doctorate in Education, focusing on the readiness of English Further Education colleges for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Debs was awarded a CBE for services to Further Education in 2026, having previously received an MBE in recognition of her contribution to the sector in 2020. A passionate advocate for Further Education, Debs believes colleges are anchor institutions with the power to transform lives and local economies. She is committed to ensuring STAR is industry-informed and learner-led, equipping students with the skills employers need and the confidence, creativity and digital capability to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Dr. Ben Dryer

Co-chair

Ben Dryer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Open University, where fifteen years working with learners at every stage of life, from school leavers to career-changers studying around full-time jobs, has shaped his interest in widening access to space careers. He chairs the OU's Space Science module (S818) and is particularly keen to see SUN tackle the sector's mid-career skills gap and expand its work with FE colleges, while building on the continued support for all SUN staff and students. Each year Ben leads the SUN Mars Yard, a hands-on rover training exercise for SUN-affiliated students all over the country. His research focuses on detector development for space applications, and he has contributed to Gaia and Euclid, and is currently working on instrument proposals for HWO.

Dr. Leah-Nani Alconcel

Co-chair

Leah-Nani is an Associate Professor of Space Engineering in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham. She leads the MSc in Space Engineering and delivers content for space-focused modules on the undergraduate Aerospace Engineering course. She has over 20 years of experience working as an magnetometer instrument engineer and manager on space science missions throughout the solar system, including the Cassini mission to Saturn, JUICE mission to the Jovian system, and the Cluster multi-spacecraft mission investigating the Earth’s magnetosphere. Leah-Nani has worked on the full life cycle of space missions, from concept and design through to build, launch, operations and end-of-life. Her current research focuses on developing instrumentation and models for space situational awareness and space sustainability. She has served in a number of diversity and inclusion roles at the University of Birmingham, formulating strategy and implementing actions to improve outcomes and experience for underrepresented groups. She has been a SUN member since 2021 and hosted our 2022 workshop on AI in space teaching. She is excited to work with the SUN leadership team to carry on the network’s excellent activities and develop new ones, including support for our FE community and for colleagues seeking formal teaching recognition.