About System//Level
Systemlevel is a small technical consulting company focused on two key business issues: innovation management and team performance. The perspective of the whole system, with years of multidiscplinary experience, is captured in the name. Systemlevel started as a tool for requirements traceability, which evolved into a requirements and interfaces tool used for specific projects. The tools are only as good as the people driving them, so we offer systems engineering as a service.
For business or team enhancement, strategy work, and general problem solving in the human parts of a system, I design and deliver workshops using Lego(R) SeriousPlay(R).
Together with a network of associates, I consult on project management, innovation processes, and technical challenges. Particular expertise is available in embedded system design, bespoke electronics and software engineering, spacecraft operations, systems engineering methods, aerospace sector training and education, and custom scripting solutions.
What is Systemlevel
Systemlevel is a company created by Dr. Ed Chester in 2014 to deliver focussed projects, consultancy work, and facilitation as a formal business.
Systemlevel is named after his specialism – systems engineering – and a different approach to problem solving at the level of ‘the system’ (be that people, processes, software, or hardware).
About Ed
Ed has lived and worked in Germany, France and Spain and is passionate about working in teams with colleagues from different places, backgrounds, and perspectives. Managing and delivering projects in different cultures increased his interest and proficiency in processes, communication, and facilitation.
He considers himself European and Welsh, though he mostly grew up in Northumberland.
Background
Ed’s academic background includes:
- BSc in Physics (Durham)
- MSc in Electronics (Newcastle)
- PhD in Computer Arithmetic and Signal Processing (Newcastle)
In 2002, he formed one third of the flight operations team for the Beagle2 mission to Mars, then moved to Germany to work for the European Space Agency on the Herschel and Planck missions. Over time he inevitably became a manager, but more involved with innovation.
Ed moved to Spain in 2007 as Head of R&D for the Centre for Aerospace and Space Technology. In parallel, he designed and taught new courses in space systems engineering for the Technical University of Catalunya. He is faculty of the International Space University in Strasbourg, a Chartered Engineer, and Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Since 2019 he has been the senior systems engineer for Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall, the world’s first commercial deep-space communications and navigation facility.