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​Published 18 August 2025​

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What made you return to Teledyne?

It was a very pleasant return for me, as I already knew the company and a lot of the people with whom I am working with today. I have always been interested in the products that Teledyne makes, as well as the customer bases that we work with. When I was here first time round we did a lot of work with ESA, for example, and they are still one of our biggest customers. When I came back, I was keen to expand my knowledge and experience in quality assurance, working on project quality standards, so my current role is ideal for me.


Tell us a bit about your current role and what product assurance involves.

Essentially, my product assurance role covers all the quality aspects of delivering our space and ground-based astronomy products and projects. I am based in our Chelmsford office in the UK, where we have two separate quality teams.

Our general quality assurance team deals with our standard product line, clean room manufacturing facilities and general engineering processes. The product assurance team looks at more project specific standards. They don’t just focus on quality aspects, but they delve into the specifics of each of our customers’ requirements around what we are delivering, both in terms of the physical delivery and the accompanying documents and data packs. 


What are some of the missions that you have been involved with recently?

One of the bigger projects that I'm working on is the GeoXO Lightning Mapper project. This is a project that is jointly led by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is a satellite that will look for lightning activity above cloud cover using a near infrared optical detector. The satellite monitors cloud cover, searching for tiny changes in brightness levels. It then uses that data to try and predict lightning activity, which can often be a precursor to tropical storms, heavy winds, wildfires and microbursts.

The work is fascinating, and I feel proud to have worked on a programme like this. The project has been running for two years, I believe, and I joined Teledyne in time to work on the current flight deliverable phase. We are in the process of developing our engineering models, which are like early prototypes, and this will continue well into next year.


Why is quality and product assurance so important in missions like these?

Product assurance is all about ensuring that we deliver exactly what the customer wants and needs. We spend a lot of time and effort in establishing the exact requirements for the performance of the device, its physical state and the assurances that it's going to do precisely what they want it to do, when they want it to happen. When you find a fault in a commercial camera, for example, you can recall them. For satellite imaging, you only get one shot at a launch and it has to work correctly first time; there are no recalls.

To make sure all of that is a success, there are certain standards that we have to adhere to. My role in product assurance is to ensure that we meet those standards. Some of them are linked to the way that we work and others are around how we present information, and what controls we have in place. In a lot of activities, product assurance represents the voice of the customer, so it’s extremely important.


Is the product assurance team quite extensive across Teledyne?

It is, yes. In Chelmsford we have quite a large product assurance team of ten people. We cover all quality aspects of Teledyne’s work, including the clean rooms. We have a series of MIPs, or Mandatory Inspection Points on site, where customers can come and inspect devices at certain stages during the manufacturing process. As the product assurance team, we host these points and show customers round. We ensure they are satisfied with progress so far and have everything that they need.

We also work with other parts of the business on various projects and collaborative groups. For example, one of my extra roles within the team is to be the ‘voice’ of product assurance for some of the more general quality matters across the company. This includes monitoring cleanliness in the clean room. I was chosen for this role because I have extensive experience of working in clean rooms and understand those manufacturing processes very well.


Now that you have returned to the space sector, do you have an increased interest in space outside of work?

I am definitely much more aware of what’s happening in space. I spend more time reading up on the projects that we are working on and the missions that they're going into. I have a huge respect for the time, effort and skills that go into space projects and the many steps that are involved from initial concept to mission launch.


Where do you see Teledyne Space Imaging going in the future?

We are a growing company and are winning numerous contracts to work on missions, which is very exciting for everyone. Our team is growing extensively around the world as well, so we have got the capacity to keep up with this increase in demand. I think that the direction that we seem to be going is working well for us, as we are moving more towards system level builds and taking on more roles in contracts as a prime supplier.

We are expanding our product range too. We are already recognised as world-leaders in our CCD and CMOS image detectors. Now, we’re trying to take our proven expertise and provide electronics, assemblies, software and more, as Teledyne moves up the value chain within the space industry.