Lee Sessions

Lee Sessions |Founder, Project-Athena www.project-athena.co.uk

Lee Sessions is a product design engineer and co-founder of Project-Athena, a UK-based startup at the intersection of aerospace, defence, and artificial intelligence. With a professional background in C4ISR systems, military GNSS integration, and ruggedised product development, Lee has spent the past decade navigating the demands of defence innovation bridging mechanical engineering, embedded systems, and front-line operational requirements.

Lee launched Project-Athena with a clear mission: to redefine sovereign UAV defence capabilities by developing modular, AI-enabled drones tailored for frontline adaptability. What began as a solo effort has grown into a specialised founding team including experts in UAV prototyping and embedded electronics, underpinned by extensive military field experience and deep technical fluency.

Drawing inspiration from classical mythology and modern battlefield realities, Project-Athena is developing a line of silent, precision UAV systems including:

* **Q-PID (Quick-strike Precision Infiltration Drone)** – a lightweight, hard-hitting aerial platform;
* **VOLTIS (Velocity Optimised Low-altitude Tactical Infiltration System)** – a terminal-velocity drop drone capable of silent deployment and fixed-wing gliding;
* **CRONOS** – a high-altitude deployment platform for drone swarms;
* **A-NET** – a sovereign, encrypted mesh communication layer enabling real-time coordination with systems like ATAK and NATO C2 tools.

Lee’s drive is not just technical it’s deeply personal. Having navigated ADHD, a late autism diagnosis, and the health toll of metabolic syndrome, he channels resilience into innovation. After undergoing bariatric surgery to reclaim his health, Lee turned his focus to systems-level thinking and human-machine symbiosis, leading to the development of **neuro-symbolic prompt frameworks** now being explored for future cognitive agent integration in defence tools.

A passionate advocate for UK manufacturing, Lee has embedded Project-Athena in key innovation clusters, including the North West Defence & Security Cluster and Electech Innovation Cluster, and is actively engaged with DASA, the MoD supplier portal, and the AMRC. The startup is self-funded and built on sustainable principles, with sovereign control and transparency as core values.

Lee’s long-term vision is to build Athena into the UK’s most agile defence UAV company, and eventually exit the company via acquisition - but only after ensuring that its systems are robust, field-proven, and a genuine asset to the nation's defence posture.

Through Gen Global, Lee seeks to share his journey, expand Athena’s global reach, and collaborate with fellow founders who believe in solving real-world problems with engineering rigour, moral clarity, and technological creativity.