Alex is our host for the day and brings her trademark energy and enthusiasm to North Star Science School 2022.

Alex thoroughly enjoys hosting events, and in her role as Ambassador for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity she has MC’d their Fundraisers Awards for the last 5 years, their annual Glow Run and their Quiz Night. Alex is currently responsible for commercial engagement for a brand new initiative in South Yorkshire, Skills Street, here at Gulliver’s Valley. In September, Alex hosted the Skills Street launch event where over 220 organisations came together to find out more about Skills Street and how it will help to inspire the future workforce.

We are pleased to have had Alex as an associate of The Work-wise Foundation for almost a decade. Alex has delivered STEM sessions to primary and secondary schools and most recently project managed the Future Makers, Creators, Designers and Builders initiative funded by D2N2 Careers Hub encouraging young women into the construction industry. 

Brian began his career in the music industry as keyboard player with rock band Dare and later with chart-toppers D:Ream. In 1995 he obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Physics from the University of Manchester and in 1998 a PhD in High Energy Particle Physics at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg. Brian is now Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Brian is widely recognised as the foremost communicator for all things scientific, having presented a number of highly acclaimed science programmes for the BBC including ‘A Year on Mars’ (2022), ‘The Universe & Everything’ (2021), ‘The Planets’
(2018), ‘Forces of Nature’ (2016), ‘Human Universe’ (2014), ‘Wonders of Life’ (2012), ‘Wonders of the Universe’ (2011) and ‘Wonders of the Solar System’ (2010). He also co-hosted popular astronomy and cosmology series ‘Stargazing Live’ with Dara O’Briain (and for ABC in Australia, with Julia Zemiro) and award-winning BBC Radio 4 series ‘Infinite Monkey Cage’ with Robin Ince. His BBC Horizon documentaries include, ‘Can We Make a Star on Earth, ‘What Time is It?’ and ‘What on Earth is Wrong with Gravity? In December 2016, Brian put on a sparkly jacket to star in a Christmas special entitled ‘The Entire Universe’ alongside Eric Idle, Noel Fielding,
Hannah Waddingham, Arlene Philips and Warwick Davis.

As an author, Brian has sold over a million books worldwide, including ‘Universal: A Guide to the Cosmos’, ‘Quantum Universe’ and ‘Why Does E=mc˛?’ and soon to be released ‘Black Holes’ (October 2022) with co-author Professor Je˜ Forshaw. He also wrote the series of books to accompany his popular television and radio programmes.

As a corporate and public speaker, Brian’s engaging talks encompass stunning imagery and incredible facts that are always guaranteed to inspire a global audience. In 2012 Brian co-founded Science Summer School with Lord Andrew Mawson OBE to
help ‘make the UK the best place to do science and engineering’. Annual projects now run in London, Northern Ireland, South Yorkshire and Surrey.

Ruth Amos is an award-winning British inventor, presenter and professional speaker. She started inventing while at school, designing the Stairsteady for her GCSE-resistant materials projects. She was Young Engineer for Britain in 2006 for the product.

She then co-founded the YouTube channel ‘Kids invent Stuff’ with fellow inventor, Shawn Brown. The channel brings to life kids’ invention ideas from seven foot dinosaurs that mop the floor to popcorn firing doorbells. The channel has had millions of views and each year thousands of children from across the world submit invention ideas as well as being featured on BBC’s the One Show & BBC News.

Each invention is a one-of-a-kind, novel engagement opportunities to inspire the next generation of engineers & inventors. From Engineering Musicals to record breaking Rube Goldberg Machines.

Simon Goodwin is Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Sheffield.  Originally from Sheffield, he spent time at St Andrews, Sussex, and Cardiff before returning to Sheffield.  He got into astrophysics because when young he was fascinated by planets, aliens, and spaceships, and now he gets paid to think about and research these (well, planets, and to a lesser extent aliens).  Being an astrophysicist has also somehow got him involved in research into sperm, public transport networks, and snooker technologies and play.

Awarded with an OBE for Services to Cybersecurity, Melanie has over 18 years of experience working within the cybersecurity industry. She is founder and CEO of Bob’s Business, the cybersecurity awareness training company.

Melanie has also created non-profit organisations to better integrate cybersecurity into society and the national curriculum in the UK. Melanie has spoken at various events around the world, helping to highlight the benefits that being secure online can bring to organisations and individuals alike.