Isotropic Systems has appointed John-Paul (JP) Szczepanik as Senior Vice President of Engineering to lead the final stages of development of the company’s multi-beam terminal. Szczepanik, an antenna development veteran and former Phasor chief technology officer, will oversee the commercial launch in government, aviation, telecommunications and maritime markets planned for 2022.

The company is developing what is claimed to be the world’s first multi-service, high-bandwidth, low power, fully integrated high throughput terminals designed to support the satellite industry and acquire new customers.

Szczepanik will play a key role in managing the development and production of Isotropic Systems ’terminals. This includes the firm’s patented circuitry which forms the core technology for the optical beamforming lens modules that allow the antenna to link with multiple orbiting satellites.

“John-Paul Szczepanik is a tremendous addition to our Isotropic Systems leadership team, with a strong and proven mix of hands-on experience and strategic vision that will absolutely contribute significantly to a smooth and mission-critical transition from terminal development to commercial production over the next 18 months,” said John Finney, Isotropic Systems CEO.

“Like our fast-growing teams in the UK and the US, JP is already keenly focused on an exciting terminal roadmap that leads to multi-beam, multi-frequency antennas allowing users simultaneous access to the vast array of next generation satellites in view. That’s the ultimate goal for government, defence, aero and enterprise markets.”

Isotropic Systems is in advanced trials of its multi-beam terminals with the US Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and other government agencies, as well negotiating agreements with companies, such as, SES and Inmarsat. Isotropic expects to commercially launch its first terminal offerings late next year and begin services in early 2022.

Szczepanik said: “I’m thrilled to join the leadership team of Isotropic Systems and contribute to the development and delivery of its breakthrough terminals. Isotropic’s products and roadmap have always impressed me – it really is an innovative and highly valuable technology that’s uniquely placed to unleash the full potential of LEO [Low Earth Orbit], MEO [Middle Earth Orbit] and GEO [higher orbit] connectivity over a single antenna.”

He added: “The next two years will be full of technical milestones, as we move quickly toward commercialisation of a terminal technology that is poised to redefine connectivity around the world.”

Prior to joining Isotropic Systems, Szczepanik worked for seven years as Phasor’s CTO, where he lead the development of its Satcom phased array. Before that he founded and served as CTO of On-Sun Systems, a solar panel company commercialising a Concentrated PV solar tracking technology.

Earlier roles include time at The Technology Partnership, an engineering consultancy in Cambridge, where he led a team of engineers in the development of a novel medical device technology for a US medical company. He began his career at QinetiQ, a leading defence technology and materials development firm in the UK, which coincidentally is also a partner with Isotropic Systems and is contributing to the optical lens modules at the core of the company’s multi-beam terminals.