He then moved on to work in a research / analysis role where he specialised in issues related to operational use and management of advanced military communications systems.  In 1988 Dr Hartas set up SyntheSys to provide information systems products and services to government and industry markets, and is now one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of systems engineering consultancy services.

Since 2008 his work focus has largely been on distributed test and trials engineering.  Mark has unrivalled experience in this field, having been the technical lead on the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Multi-Link Test Facility (MLTF) contract initially, and subsequently as the project manager.  He maintains a strong involvement in the provision of technical support in test and trial activities.

Mark has an engineering background with 23 years’ service in the Royal Air Force, providing both direct and support roles for airborne radar systems on a variety of aircraft.  He also served on software teams in both test and software maintenance roles.

Since joining SyntheSys in 2005, he has gained significant experience with IBM® solutions for software and systems engineering and is a certified IBM® Engineering Requirements Management DOORS® Family professional.  This experience enables Mark to support clients in identifying the ideal IBM® solutions that meet their engineering requirements, implementing the solution, and providing mentoring for the products.  His systems engineering credentials have been recognised by INCOSE CSEP certification in 2013.  He is now delivering Systems Engineering and CSEP preparation training to future candidates.

This gave Jacqui an astute understanding of a wide range of business issues, but particularly relating to data security, quality, and contractual relationships with customers and suppliers.  Jacqui’s responsibilities include: Contracts Manager (managing customer and supplier contracts); Quality Management (in accordance with International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001); Environmental Management (in accordance with ISO 14001) and Personnel Management.  Jacqui also has a good knowledge of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) having attained the associated award.

Kate is an Air Traffic Management (ATM) specialist and has worked across a broad number of areas during 32 years in the military and civil environment, including conceptual development as part of the Air Staff, information management and international engagement.  In addition to her role at SyntheSys, Kate is a current reservist in the Royal Air Force Service Complaints Team.

Since joining SyntheSys, this experience has been utilised to provide TDL expertise in support of United Kingdom (UK) and multi-national trials using the UK Multi-Link Test Facility (MLTF).

Roland served for 37 years in the Royal Netherlands Air Force.  His experience includes Link 11A / B, ATDL-1, Link 16, JREAP and network design, and Senior Link 16 Manager at the National Data Link Management Cell.  The last 5 years of active duty were spent at the Centre of Excellence from the Ground Based Air Defence Command as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Tactical Data Links and was involved in the introduction of JREAP.  His broad experience enables Roland to assist in training courses and exercises.

He excelled as a data link subject matter expert providing student instruction, leading teams through test & evaluation processes and course planning, with the goal of eliminating inefficiencies in a specific process for the benefit of everyone involved, from those participating in the system, to the eventual stakeholders.  This unique blend of experience enables James to grow customer relationships while exceeding consumer demands.

He has extensive experience in data collection, analysis and front-line engineering support to the RAF, Royal Navy and Army TDL systems.  This experience continues to be utilised to deliver support to platform implementations and test support through the Multi-Link Test Facility (MLTF) and TDL Implementation and integration support to platforms.

Having progressed to technical authoring back in 2004 he has been writing everything from user manuals to business processes for over 17 years.  For the past 8 years Matt worked for Aerospace firm, Daifuku Logan where he worked with Requirements Engineering to administer the IBM® Engineering Lifecycle Management tool suites for multiple projects and developed the use of the tool within the business.  Matt is a proud father and loves the outdoors, particularly enjoying running, cycling and walking to keep fit.  He has interests in music and photography.  Matt enjoys riding and restoring classic motorcycles.  His current project is a 1971 Honda CL100 which is currently testing his problem-solving skills.

Alan has a strong background in Tactical Data Links (TDLs) and it is this experience which makes him well placed to work with SyntheSys Defence, initially delivering our world-class TDL training.  Alan was a TDL operator and Network Manager, and taught TDL systems to the future generation of our Royal Navy.

This included sixteen years at the Halifax Courier daily newspaper where she held the position of Deputy Pre-Press Manager.  Her varied skillset was a good fit for the administrative department of SyntheSys, and she began her career as Commercial Business Support Officer.  Michele is now Security Lead and as Assistant Finance Lead is responsible for the administration of SyntheSys’ finance system across all business groups.  She is also involved in facilitating our training courses which includes, liaising with our overseas customers, producing training materials, document quality control and support to SyntheSys’ home-based staff.

Graduating from the University of Huddersfield where she studied Business Management, Sarah gained knowledge from working in both large and small organisations where the focus of her work has been direct marketing, digital marketing, events management and reporting.  Sarah is General Manager for SyntheSys Technologies and works in an operational capacity to build customer and stakeholder relationships and ensure the smooth running of the business.  Sarah is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Luke started his career with SyntheSys in 2016 to develop the SyntheSys Defence Community Portal.  Once the Portal was complete, Luke naturally moved on to IT support, IT security, website development, as well as supporting the team in development activities in various customer contracts.  Luke then went onto managing the IT infrastructure and IT security operations, which sees him lead the group’s Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.  Luke is currently completing his final year with the Open University to complete a BSc (Hons) in Computing specialising in software engineering.  Luke has a keen interest in cyber security and has spent many years of his life behind a human-machine interface, taking inspiration from his family who are themselves well established in IT.

He has worked across a broad range of corporate and Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) organisations in financial, manufacturing, e-commerce, international trade and many other areas.  Colin works on web-based projects and is responsible for the company website amongst other interesting internal and external development projects.

As well as working daily with the Customer Engagement Team and The Defence Community Portal, Stephen works with departments within the company to coordinate event planning, press releases and other various marketing activities.

Tanya has varied experience in management, sales, customer service, administration, and financial management along with manufacturing and production.  Tanya is currently working towards qualifications in Microsoft solutions which she uses to support the business.