We’ve all marvelled at the images of deep space and distant galaxies, but what did it take to get the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit? One man who can answer that question better than any other is Carl Starr, who up until recently was the Mission Operations Manager for the JWST. In this episode he explains what it was like building the team in the early days of the telescope’s design process. He tells us about the emotionally charged moment when the telescope first beamed back blobs of light. And he explains why he’s left the project now to work for Millennium Space Systems.

Alice’s Magic Cover is our prototype of the week. Simple but genius, this piece of kit is a reusable way of covering a child’s earrings up during PE lessons or while they sleep. We hear from Anne Nortcliffe from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Thanks to the children from Lisnasharragh primary school in Northern Ireland, who shared their engineering ideas with us.

And if you have an answer to our problem send your thoughts to info@leadersaward.com or comment on Twitter @Leadersaward. This week it comes from Andrew from National Grid: “How can we regenerate nature after construction work finishes?”

Your host is Ollie Guillou. Head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcasts to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.