Ian Jones BSc CEng MIEE

Managing Director Orbit Research Ltd

Ian Jones graduated in 1985 from the University of Leeds with a II(i) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

After developing a Meteosat/NOAA satellite receiver and orbital prediction software for his final year project, Ian Jones was appointed Assistant Executive Engineer at British Telecom Research Labs, Martlesham Heath, working in the 'Satellite Communication Trials and Experiments Group'. There he was part of the team that developed the first Inmarsat C terminal. Ian was responsible for the quadrafilar helix antenna design, the RF chain and elements of the DSP design using Texas Instruments digital signal processors.

In 1987 Ian Jones joined Communication Systems Research Ltd (CSRL) as a senior modem designer, where he was responsible for the DSP and baseband electronics for the first ever trial of the Inmarsat Aeronautical satellite telephone system (BT Skyphone). This system was successfully deployed at Goonhilly Earth Station.

Ian was promoted to group leader of modem development where he was responsible for the development of a number of advanced transceivers including direct sequence spread spectrum systems.

CSRL was acquired by Ferranti International and Ian was promoted to the Head of Hardware Division, where he was responsible for a team of 25 engineers and technicians developing a wide range of satellite communication and satellite research projects. As CSRL became part of the Communication Systems Division of FCSL with some 400 employees, Ian was promoted to Business Development Manager for the division.

In January 1994 Ian fulfilled his ambition of forming his own company, becoming Managing Director of Orbit Research Ltd.

Here, Ian has been directly responsible for the development of all of the products developed by the company, frequently taking the role of 'product architect', but also taking his turn with the physical development of the project and aspects of project management.

In addition to his communication systems engineering and software development skills, Ian has completed a number of 'Business Analyst' contracts.

In 2000 and 2001, he was requested by VST Comreco Rail to manage (on contract) the software development division of their company. He was directly responsible for a department of 50 staff and projects worth several million pounds. Ian re-structured the organisation and successfully helped to achieve ISO 9001 accreditation at the first attempt.

Ian Jones continues to develop and expand Orbit Research Ltd and is looking forward to the new developments in Broadband IP via satellite!

About Orbit Research

Directors : Ian Jones, Gavin Foster