Horizon Lectures

Dedicated and accomplished female academic with a strong background and a passion for fostering innovation in NanoEngineering, Opto-Electronics and Photonics, AI and IoT. Combining a solid foundation in academic research and teaching with application and entrepreneurial focus, I aim to contribute to both academia and the business world by bridging the gap between theory and practice. With over 15 years of combined experience in pioneering R&D within prestigious academic institutions such as MIT, TCD, Tyndall and the University of Exeter, Dr Baldycheva is an internationally recognised female researcher, expert in emerging technologies, innovator, and entrepreneur in STEMM, being featured in Forbes and other media. Since 2014, she is leading an interdisciplinary research laboratory - STEMM Lab at the University of Exeter, which works on developing Emerging Technologies in collaboration with industry pioneers, focusing on R&D of smart materials, devices, and systems and more recently also in the AI and IoT, having produced several innovations and a technology spin-out.

Jo launched her first business at 24, straight out of university. Three iterations and 9 years later, she runs the second-largest nanny training company in the country and is the biggest trainer and supplier of Ski Nannies to resorts worldwide. Her passion for providing unique and exciting opportunities to young adults and incredible care for children has got her (and Freckles Childcare) where they are today. A place where it all started with a yes in September 2009, packing her car and driving 3.5 hours down the motorway.

A story of something learned early at King’s and honed every day since, Phil has led an inspiring and incredibly diverse and interesting life, from motorsports to retail entrepreneurship and all sorts in between! Phil's years after King's were a fairy tale of boyhood dreams, beyond wild fantasy - a diet of Motor racing & with down time. A life of Helicopters and Power Boats & travel, all overplayed with income he was ill-prepared to manage! This story is about something learned early at King's and has been honed every day since then.

After graduating from Birmingham University with a degree in Natural Sciences and a year of travel under her belt, Lisa embarked on a management consultancy career working with energy clients all over the world, supporting them to deliver effective business change. Whilst living in Australia, Lisa discovered an online business with a wellness brand called Arbonne, which she built alongside her corporate consulting career. This business fuelled a passion for improving people’s health and vitality and coaching others to build their own online global businesses with Arbonne to create additional income streams and more flexibility in their lives. More recently Lisa has qualified to become a mindset coach and has co-founded, Well I Am, a wellness-driven leadership development company which supports company leaders in improving their own wellbeing and that of their teams and organisational culture. Lisa lives in Bath with her husband Tim and her children Heidi and Lewis. She is a lover of all things outdoors, sports, adventure and travel!

In 2012, Cameron travelled around the world with my family on our 52ft sailing yacht. This experience not only ignited a sizeable travel bug within him, but more importantly pushed him towards an education and career centred around geography and the environment. While at King’s, he immersed himself in various sports and societies and even served as a member of the Horizon Committee. After completing his A-levels, he joined Loughborough University, where he continued my involvement in sports and academia, ultimately earning a degree in Geography. During his time at university, he had the fortunate opportunity to hear a guest lecturer discuss the potential scope of small-scale renewables in rural Africa. It was in this moment that the idea for establishing a solar water pump charity in Malawi was born. For context, Malawi receives rainfall from November to March, during this time families use this rain to grow crops such as maize, tobacco and soy. However, during the dry season farming is incomprehensible, it was this issue which I aimed to solve. Additionally, it was important to him that the project collaborate with a local charity that supports HIV/AIDS positive families with subsistence farming. These solar water pumps would work utilising community wells allowing families to irrigate their fields year-round. The project was officially launched in January 2024 and has since enabled hundreds of families to grow crops for the first time ever in the dry season.

As a former pupil, Ellie left Kings in 2019 to read a degree in History & Politics at the University of Warwick. After graduating from Warwick, she secured a position on PepsiCo’s Future Leaders Programme—a highly competitive graduate scheme that offers extensive experience across marketing and sales within one of the world’s largest FMCG companies. Here, she has already worked closely with brands such as Lipton Ice Tea, Doritos, Walkers Crisps, and Pepsi. Having now finished the scheme and secured a permanent position, she is not only passionate about sharing her experiences & passion for marketing, but equally guiding others on how to make the most of their time at Sixth Form and University to lay a strong foundation & make you stand out in applying for graduate schemes.

Lucy is an Operations Director in the hospitality sector and has worked her way up the ranks from a graduate trainee back in 1997 having graduated in Economics and Geography at Sheffield University. In a male-dominated industry, Lucy has had many challenges throughout her career. Sheer hard work, focus and passion for what she does, however, means that she has still, despite these hurdles, achieved a lot. Lucy's father told her to make a career in what makes you happy and then you will not feel like you ever do a day's work in your life. This is exactly what she has done and still continues to do.

After finishing A Levels at King’s, Charlotte studied English at Royal Holloway, University of London but (by happy accident) became committed to its student radio station. Graduating and leaving behind her role of Station Manager in 2017, Charlotte was hired as a Production Assistant in a production house before rising up to Producer in 2019. In 2021, Charlotte moved across to Insanity (known for managing talent including Maya Jama and Roman Kemp) to launch its first podcast production division in 2021. Since then, Charlotte has built Insanity Studios: a team of four producers who create podcasts that reach a monthly audience of a million people, with titles including FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp, Made By Mammas, Beyond The Bathroom, The Doctor Will Hear You Now, The Motability Lifestyle Pod, and more. Charlotte is currently celebrating ten years of working in audio.

Stephen comes from a generation that was taught NOT to blow their own trumpets. So, he won’t be telling you how he has contributed to saving the community, the nation or the planet, become a great achiever, selflessly served and so on. Though if that’s your thing, type “Stephen Davies, Hong Kong” into Google and see what you get. Instead, the focus will be on what fun life can be if one takes Alexander Herzen’s advice seriously. ‘if people would sooner or later get the idea of saving themselves rather than saving the world, of liberating themselves rather than liberating humanity, how much they would do towards saving the world and liberating mankind’ (From the other shore/Vom andern Ufer, Ch. VI: Omnia mea mecum porto) That way one is open to walking through any open door that happens by, of seeing most things as potentially – and usually actually – hugely interesting, and of refusing absolutely to limit oneself to any parochialism of place, language and culture. Stephen hasn’t had a ‘career’, successful or otherwise, although most of his sixty-one years of working life, near 90% overseas, have been orientated around communicating the accumulations of a happily dustbin mind to others as a teacher, journalist and author. Life as a barely controlled drift, to use a seafarer’s image, aims at keeping off the rocks but otherwise following that tide which, taken at the flood, leads on to loads of fun.

Olivia Swann is ready to take over the world one song at a time. Hailing from London, Swann’s love for music first started at a young age. Growing up, she consumed the vibrant works of artists like Erykah Badu, Chet Baker and Amy Winehouse. As time went by, Swann realised that she wanted to pursue her own music journey within the beloved R&B genre. After graduating from the famed Berklee College of Music, Swann soon found herself diving headfirst into the industry as an independent artist. Having been mentored by Grammy-award winning producers like James Fauntleroy, Rance Dopson and Rico Love, Swann quickly made a name for herself as a vibrant songwriter. Since her 2020 debut, the songstress has released an array of tracks that showcase her diverse and unapologetic talent.

Mark Gidlow-Jackson was educated at Canford School in Dorset and following a brief stint teaching English in Africa joined the Army in September 1991. He commissioned in 1992 and has served with The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and The Rifles. He has served as an Infantry Officer all over the world, including on operations in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Afghanistan and the Middle East. He has had the privilege of command at Platoon, Company, Battalion and Battle Group level and has worked with many allies, including the US, France, Germany, Afghanistan and Iraq. Latterly, his career has focused on the delivery of training. Most recently he has been a Deputy Commandant at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst delivering initial leadership and officer training for Regular and Reserve Officers. He will soon move to be the President of the Army Officer Selection Board. Proud father of 2 King's pupils, he hopes to bring to life the realities of a career in the Forces and the power of teams.