Antennas and other ground based electronic systems continue to be developed that are smaller, lighter, more durable and powerful with full scalability, all while costs have significantly decreased. This trend is typical across virtually all electronic manufacturing domains. With an estimated ground equipment market approaching $25 billion, what are the most significant satellite specific developments witnessed recently? What new capacities can be expected in the near future and what implication do those capacities have for the broader satellite industry?
Lou Zacharilla
Louis A. Zacharilla is Director of Innovation & Development for the Space & Satellite Professionals Internationalwhere he serves as strategist and spokesperson for the Society and the industry. He oversees SSPI’s corporate development program and is responsible for developing new chapters and events worldwide.
With the SSPI team Lou created the www.bettersatelliteworld.com campaign and Awards Dinner in London, which promotes the role of satellites as anchors of human development.
Mr. Zacharilla has written hundreds of articles and blogs for trade and business publications, appears regularly in the media and as a speaker and moderator of satellite industry conferences. He developed the World Teleport Association’s Teleport Awards Luncheon, which is now in its 23 years at the Satellite Conference in Washington, DC. He is a co-author of three books, including, Brain Gain.
He gave a TEDx Talk in 2016 and spoke at the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.
He holds a Masters Degree from the University of Notre Dame (USA) and lives in New York.
Andre Jones
Andre Jones is the Vice President of Business Development for the Antenna Systems Division of Communications & Power Industries (CPI). In this role, Mr. Jones is responsible for the division’s global business development and marketing efforts across satellite, radar, high frequency, data link, and telemetry products.
Andre has more than 25 years of experience in satellite communications; beginning his career as an R&D engineer at COMSAT Laboratories in Clarksburg, MD. Before joining CPI Antenna Systems Division, he served in several senior roles at leading industry firms, from managing the global sales team for ViaSat’s commercial ground systems business to serving as pre-sales director for General Dynamics Satcom business, and leading international deployment and integration teams for Globalstar.
Mr. Jones holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University and Georgia Tech, respectively; an MS/MBA in technology management from Mercer University; and air traffic control certifications from Transports Canada Training Institute.
Ian Jones
Ian Jones is the founder, CEO and significant shareholder of Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. He is a satellite communications engineer and entrepreneur with over 30 years’ experience in the industry with a background in digital satellite communications systems, RF design, earth station development and operations.
He graduated from Leeds University in 1985 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He developed new Digital Signal Processing satellite modems at BT Research Labs and Communication Systems Research Ltd (CSRL), leading the design of the Inmarsat Aero communication system. When CSRL was acquired by Ferranti International, Ian was promoted to Head of Satellite Engineering and subsequently Head of Business Development within the Ferranti Computer Systems Division.
In 1994 he co-founded Orbit Research Ltd where he was Managing Director and 50% shareholder. Ian was responsible for a number of innovations and new product designs for satellite communication systems including remote control monitoring systems for satellite earth stations. He led the development of a new business providing mobile health care diagnostic services via satellite and he was also responsible for a number of innovations in Education Outreach which led to the creation of the Star Centre (Keighley) and the ESA ESERO network.
In 2008 he became aware of the impending closure of Goonhilly Earth Station and worked to create a new business opportunity for the site. He founded Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd and built a successful, profitable business leasing the antennas at Goonhilly from BT and bringing them back into service. In January 2014, Ian led the team completing the successful acquisition of Goonhilly.
Ian’s vision for a sustainable, profitable and diverse business at Goonhilly is rapidly taking shape with a growing client base covering all aspects of commercial satellite communications, space communication, radio astronomy, big data and data centre services, training, outreach, and business co-location. His entrepreneur skills are in demand across Africa where he is involved in assisting human capital development projects at other former telecommunication centres. Goonhilly has now become an Enterprise Zone and the host of the Sat Apps Catapult South West Regional Centre of Excellence, of which Ian is the Chair.
Alexander Mueller-Gastell
Alexander Mueller-Gastell joined ND SatCom in September 2017. His main focus at ND SatCom is to manage the success-oriented organization and define and implement the growth strategies for the three business units Government & Enterprise, Defence and Broadcast. Before joining ND SatCom, he was Presidentx&xCOO of Signalhorn, where he was responsible for managing the company´s daily operations and strategic direction including the growth strategy through acquisitions. Alexander started his career as a controller at Alcan and served in various companies as CFO.
Alexander Mueller-Gastell holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, USA and the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.
Alvaro Sanchez
Alvaro Sanchez has led the sales at Integrasys for the past 5 years with strong international presence taking care of the current Integrasys customers and opening new markets and accounts and he manages the Integrasys Marketing Department. Currently, Alvaro is leading the new Integrasys USA office based in Herndon, Washington DC area, where the sales team is growing as the company is a stronger player every day in North America.
Alvaro represents Integrasys Innovation with the latest Innovation awards at Satcon NY and VSAT event for the famous Satmotion Pocket VSAT Commissioning System.
Previous to join Integrasys Alvaro was a Test & Measurements engineer at CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research specializing in timing and phase measurements for colliders synchronization. Alvaro was involved in a project where neutrinos where traveling at the speed of light from CERN (Switzerland) to Gran Sasso. The synchronization devices where Alvaro worked on were critical for ensuring that the neutrinos could not travel faster than the speed of light.
Alvaro holds Industrial Hardware Engineering Degree and Computer Software Engineering Degree by the European University with a Master Degree in Sales Direction by ESIC Business School.
Heidi Thelander
Heidi Thelander is VP of Business Development at Comtech Xicom Technology, addressing a wide range of opportunities for the premier high power amplifier supplier in the satcom industry. Heidi has over 25 years experience in the satcom industry including satellite payload and ground-system design, program management, and new business development roles. She joined Xicom from Wavestream Corporation where she was instrumental in developing and promoting their high power Ka-band SSPA product line.
Other past roles include product management and marketing for optical networking start-up Centerpoint, business development for Lockheed Martin’s Western Development Labs, and a full range of engineering, management and business development positions at TRW Space & Electronics Group (now part of Northrop Grumman). Heidi has her BSEE from Marquette University and MSEE in Communication Systems from University of Southern California.