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Business Chief sits down with Eric Kaled, President of the CommTech and Transportation subsidiaries of successful Charlotte-based company SPX Technologies.

Eric Kaled has enjoyed a diverse career thus far, working in more than 20 countries across the globe. 

Today, he is President of the CommTech and Transportation subsidiaries of Charlotte-based company, SPX Technologies, a supplier of highly-engineered products and technologies.

Prior to joining SPX in 2019, Eric held various executive leadership roles across Crane Company, including in payment, merchandising and process flow technologies for the chemical, refining and power industries.

He is a keen advocate of striking the right balance between a traditional business mindset and taking a more people-centred approach, stressing that authenticity and transparency are key. 

Here, Business Chief catches up with Eric to discuss overcoming pandemic challenges, his goals for the 12 next months and the importance of learning your lessons. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and your career so far

My experience has been quite diverse to date. I’ve been fortunate to work in over 20 countries, within a multitude of disciplines – from operating with cutting-edge semiconductors, radio chips, the first cellular phone system on a chip, and Bluetooth – and at different levels. Today, as President of the CommTech (TCI and ECS) and Transportation (Genfare) subsidiaries of SPX Technologies, I head a workforce and team of leaders committed to making high-tech solutions as effortless as they are useful.

At SPX Technologies we specialise in innovative next-generation technologies that ensure a smarter, more secure future for all.  For example, if you’ve ever wondered how airports detect drones, TCI and ECS’ precision geolocation technology may have been an underlying capability in making that happen. And if you’ve used a credit card, smart card, mobile app, or cash to ride public transportation, Genfare’s cloud-based software, mobile and hardware technology probably enabled your journey.

Prior to SPX Technologies, I held executive leadership roles across CraneCo, including payment, merchandising and process flow technologies for the chemical, refining, and power industries. I spent more than 20  years at the intersection of growth, optimisation, and business acquisition, stewarding businesses and cultivating leaders in publicly-traded B2B companies spanning fintech, retail, mobile, gaming, transportation, and industrial manufacturing. 

What does your role with SPX Technologies entail?

Since joining SPX Technologies in 2019, my role has evolved to my current title of President of both the communications technology for detection and measurement platform and the transportation division – CommTech and Genfare, respectively. As a global manufacturer and supplier of highly-engineered technological solutions with more than 10,000 employees across the globe, I’m also proud to be on the company’s executive council for diversity and inclusion and a facilitator of the sponsorship of our executive leadership program. Additionally, I’m part of the executive software council for engineering development, focused on innovation, and an executive leadership member for enterprise-wide activities and influence. 

What is the biggest challenge you face in your job?

My biggest challenge relates to securing organic and inorganic growth for each of the businesses I preside at SPX Technologies, in addition to daily operational coaching. Balancing time in a way that gives enough prioritisation and focus to each one of those elements is quite challenging; particularly when navigating an enterprise-wide role of supporting diversity and inclusion, software council and executive leadership programmes, while seeking new talent and coaching them to help scale, in the US and the UK. 

The combination of all those elements is a challenge, which is why we advocate for a clear company culture which is sympathetic to everyone’s individual philosophy and values in order for teams to be managed in a structure that is efficient and clear. For instance, by delegating and trusting others, we’re able to drive scalability and grow operations. On a personal level in my current role, I strive to make a positive impact on my organisation, taking the time and focus on making a positive difference.

Given the pandemic, economic uncertainty and war in Ukraine, how tough have the past few years been for your company?

Despite the unsettling past few years leading up to the current state of economic and social unrest, we actively chose to see challenges as opportunities to support and make a positive impact on people – from our employees to wider communities. For instance, in 2020 amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, our SPX CommTech team continued providing essential service and support to defence teams, emergency services and law enforcement customers with critical radio frequency technology. This allowed us to build a stronger team culture, evaluate how we’re impacting society and bring people together in a time of need.

In challenging environments, we’re compelled to approach everything differently, whether that be a company-wide business process or a specific product feature. This enables us to accelerate innovation and produce new and unique solutions that allow us to problem-solve in new complex scenarios. For instance, when faced with the fast-evolving conflict in Eastern Europe, at SPX CommTech we produced and launched a new scalable solution to detect, track and defeat Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) engaged in hostile activity or surveillance within 12 months. Today this solution is currently being deployed in active conflicts and is enabling us to gather further feedback from customers that will, in turn, help us make improvements for future operations.

Ultimately, the ability to embrace challenges by looking at the problem and seeing how we can add value has allowed us to build effective solutions, which is how we will continue to operate as we navigate present and future uncertainty.

How important is it for companies to strike the right balance between having a traditional business mindset and taking a more people-centred approach?

It’s very important and stems from authenticity. The balance lies in stating what business is about and allowing people to grow within it based on a clear understanding of its targets, goals and what has to be done in order to achieve them. Being authentic and transparent about your targets enables meaningful conversations to be had among groups, removes friction in decision-making and helps focus support of three key groups: users, investors and employees. 

As a business we value transparency and openness, and as such all employees see our monthly KPIs, from finance and growth goals to operational excellence and talent. This enables us to discuss how we’re performing against each target, what’s top of mind, any concerns and what we must focus on going forward. Ultimately, this approach removes the need to choose between having a traditional business mindset and a people-centred approach – it’s about our collective alignment and targets. This way we guarantee everybody is on the same page and we don’t have to trade one over the other.

What advice would you give your teenage self?

The main advice I would give to my teenage self is to focus your whole mind on the goal you want to pursue and, if it’s really what’s important to you, do whatever it takes at all levels to achieve it. Be full-hearted and the best that you can be. A second piece of advice would be to always be mindful of the consequences of your actions and of all lessons learned during your professional and personal journey. In today’s age of social media, we’ve seen a significant backlash against those articulating or posting a thought before carefully considering its implications. This has, naturally, drastically transformed since I was a teenager, but the core lesson is still there.

What are your goals for the next 12 months?

A key professional goal is to hit our performance indicators for both businesses – SPX CommTech and Genfare. Additionally, over the coming year, we want to encourage more celebration and recognition of our teams across our US and UK offices. The past 12 months have already seen great successes, from the rapid expansion of SPX CommTech’s business operations culminating in multi-million contract wins for our BLACKTALON Counter Unmanned Air Systems solution, to shining the spotlight on our female leaders on International Women’s Day. However, our biggest success to date is embracing our culture and diversity as an organisation, celebrating successes and supporting others to continue making a positive impact on the world around us. 

Finally, on a personal level, a goal I wish to achieve over the next year is to take time to charge my mental and physical battery – shutting down from business, enjoying time with friends and family, and returning to business with renewed strength and determination to continue making a difference.

From the use of purpose built and commercial drones in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the delivery of contraband and weapons to prisons, to the inappropriate use of drones in public spaces, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) threats are rising significantly, and will continue to do so in the coming years. Successfully defeating any threat posed by errant, illegal or malicious drone use is becoming ever more critical for an increasingly wide range of domestic and international military and security forces.

Radio Frequency (RF) inhibition technology is an ideal technique to mitigate UAS threats in complex environments. However, the challenges presented by new highly complex UAS waveforms, paired with the limitations of older DDS-based jamming solutions, have caused the most effective Counter-UAS RF inhibition systems to undergo a significant technology change. For instance, a change that has materialised in the adoption of techniques used in Software-Defined Radios (SDR).

Forward-thinking RF inhibition waveform designers, understanding the potentially advantageous nature of SDR source waveform generation, had already developed and proven as a next generation countermeasure waveform, but they weren’t implemented until the complex waveforms of the UAS domain appeared. Hence the deployment of SDR-based RF inhibition source waveform generation was triggered by the appearance of the new sophisticated waveform drone threat.

In this context, SDR-derived RF inhibition waveforms can be architected to counter a much wider range of threats which, when grouped together, don’t see their individual frequency effectiveness compromised as there is no interdependency between them. Most critical for defeating sophisticated drones, the countermeasure waveform is always present across the denied spectrum given that SDR techniques, designed appropriately, generate high instantaneous bandwidths.

The BLACKTALON solution, jointly developed by SPX CommTech’s TCI and ECS, has provided an effective  way to integrate passive and active RF detect to locate, identify, track and defeat drones, allowing for flexibility in deployment in an ever changing and evolving threat environment. Proven in active conflict, its SDR source generation delivers an inhibition waveform best suited for Counter-UAS. High gain, directional antennas transmit the inhibition waveforms ensuring that the antennas illuminate the target. Furthermore, the antennas have a nominal 20° beamwidth providing the power density required at the target UAS, which allows for mitigation of collateral impact upon other systems and is, without a doubt, a key factor for using RF.

As solutions manufacturers, at SPX CommTech, our primary goal is focused on innovation and progress, but more broadly, we must continue to deliver technology that ensures a smarter, more secure future for us all.

Visit us this week during Security & Policing 2023, stand D61, to find out more about BLACKTALON, Radio Frequency Counter-UAS, COMINT, and Data Link solutions for defence and security teams.

TCI International, Inc. (an SPX Technologies Company) is once again pleased to host industry and government professionals from around the world at a tuition-free training course offered by the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) at TCI corporate headquarters in Fremont, California:

USTTI Course 23-151

Practical Applications of Spectrum Management and Spectrum Monitoring

May 01–May 05, 2023
Fremont, California (Northern Silicon Valley)

Course description

The course focuses on the practical application of ITU-compliant spectrum management and monitoring techniques and the modern-day challenges associated with them. The course employs classroom and hands-on activities to provide students with an overview of spectrum management and a practical review of monitoring techniques and their interaction. Classroom time is used to instruct in the system planning and coverage analysis, operational principles of a monitoring station (fixed, mobile, and transportable), principles of signal measurements, radio direction-finding, and signal identification and recording. The hands-on portion of the course will demonstrate real time application of the principles taught in the classroom and include mission planning, operational set-up, running missions, and data analysis and management.

Learning Objectives

To learn practical implementation of spectrum management, spectrum monitoring, radio direction-finding, and signal measurement techniques as they relate to the international standards of the ITU and today’s signal environment. This includes:

• Monitoring coverage and planning tools.
• Radio direction-finding.
• Signal monitoring, identification, and correlation to the frequency management database.
• Spectrum occupancy observations and analysis as part of the frequency management function.
• Transmitter measurements as required to ensure compliance to the radio regulations.
• Management and monitoring trends, and big data management.

Focus

Managerial and high-level technical, with emphasis on hands-on demonstrations.

TCI’s longstanding commitment to spectrum monitoring includes advancing the state of technology and enhancing the expertise of users. This year’s seminar offers an unusual opportunity to acquire practical knowledge and technical insights from an exceptionally accomplished team of spectrum professionals.

Apply online for Course 23-151 at https://ustti.org/course/spectrum-monitoring-training-sequence/

Many will look back on 2022 as a year marked by conflict and social unrest, from the war in Ukraine to protests in Iran. In such defining times, we’re compelled to assess our role and responsibilities not only to our clients but also to our employees and societies worldwide.

We enter 2023 by taking stock of our successes and failures to date, of global political, economic and social footing, and consider how we will continue to best serve our stakeholders and societies around the world through innovation. In doing so, we aim to be one step ahead of the world’s next challenge and continue to inch closer to a smarter and more secure future for us all.

Boundless support, both domestic and overseas

Defence teams, governments and their civilians rely heavily on real-time spectrum monitoring and data transmission helping protect entire communities within and outside national borders.

Our Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum technologies have enabled them to do this faster and more accurately than ever before.

Overseas, our Battlespace solutions are being deployed in active conflict, aiding military and defence teams with crucial information to carry out their operations. As our equipment is being used in modern conflicts, it’s also proven. Ongoing feedback from operational users helps us make the necessary improvements for real-life scenarios – meaning great flexibility and agility in our response and greater benefits for our clients.

Finding better ways to simplify and positively impact operations within our national borders, for civilian organisations and commercial entities, is equally critical. A current example is the strengthening of the UK’s West Midlands Emergency Services response to incidents by implementing data receiver technology, supplied by our Data Links division. Another example in 2022 was the inauguration of Kosovo’s National Spectrum Monitoring System (NSMS), supplied by our Spectrum Monitoring division. NSMS is part of the Kosovo Digital Economy Project (KODE), which aims to improve access to better quality and high-speed broadband services in project areas and online knowledge sources, services and labour markets among citizens, the public and academic institutions.

More recently, our team members and spectrum monitoring solutions were deployed to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in support of the Communications Regulatory Authority’s (CRA) upgraded network for RF spectrum monitoring, which provided enhanced radio frequency security during the event. In developing countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe, our technology is helping their governments secure crucial income from private companies – with spectrum RF licensing being a significant revenue generation to support their communities.

So, how will we continue to respond and adapt quickly, understand the greater picture of where our products and services fit in, and best support our clients, employees and society?

Growing business to achieve greater positive impact

Just over a year ago, TCI and Enterprise Control Systems joined forces to combine decades of expertise in RF countermeasures and encrypted data links systems with leading RF detection and location systems, creating the global infrastructure that we know today as SPX CommTech. Since then we’ve not only observed significant changes in our company structure, but also a rapid expansion of business operations which culminated in 2022’s multi-million contract wins for the first jointly developed BLACKTALON Counter Unmanned Air Systems (C-UAS) solution.

Our primary goal has always been to use our technology to deliver innovation and progress, not only for external customers, but to also drive our internal teams and employees to make a difference. In 2022 our US and UK teams were able to introduce the concept, develop the prototype and launch the BLACKTALON solution, which is currently being deployed in conflicts in Eastern Europe. This cross-border collaboration has allowed us to expand our SPX culture and diversity – from ethnicity and gender, to culture and work styles – from an American company to a broader global corporation which continues to expand.

As a result, today over 100 employees operate in regions across the globe – including Europe, APAC, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. As part of the wider SPX Technologies group, our financial results for the third quarter of 2022 show an increase in revenue for the ‘Detection & Measurement Segment’, which SPX CommTech is part of, from $106.4 million in the third quarter of 2021 to $142.7 million in the same timeframe of 2022 – including a 14.4% increase from the acquisitions of companies such as Enterprise Control Systems.

Innovation, sustainability and empowered employees

Today we continue down the path of sustained organic growth and are accelerating our impact through continued product innovations, expanding our reach across the globe with products and services, and most importantly, striving to achieve customer satisfaction with our offering. In addition, we’re also committed to inorganic growth through the development and acquisition of technologies and companies that help diversify our work even further, allowings us to look at new opportunities from a hardware and software perspective, as well as for employees across our company.

While we continue to focus on growth we have ambitions to do this sustainably – for the business and for the environment. We’re committed to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2030, and greater transparency in our diversity and inclusion disclosures, as we focus on enhancing our performance annually. These commitments align closely with our emphasis on continuous improvement and sustainability, and on building and maintaining a strong, diverse, and highly effective team.

Ultimately, as we continue to scale our operations, our employees are presented with a unique opportunity to grow in their individual careers and also be a part of a larger corporate framework, engaging with different types of business models. This feeds into our company philosophy which is rooted in humble management and a mentality of continuous improvement. By allowing everyone an equal voice we ensure great ideas and values are shared across all levels of the organization, whilst allowing a space to reflect, challenge and learn from others. Continuous improvement also drives us to want to deliver constant advancements to our existing products and what comes next, not only in the next twelve months, but in the next twelve years.

2 February 2023 – Radio Frequency (RF) solutions manufacturer SPX CommTech, part of SPX Technologies, today announces a strategic partnership in Europe. Aviation sales and service provider, Global Aviation Systems will cover German and Switzerland exclusively as well as Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The new agreement is part of the company’s initiative to drive growth and bolster in-country support for its Tactical Data Link portfolio, particularly for aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).

Jackson White, Business Development Director at SPX CommTech: “In response to growing demand for proven innovation in the aviation and security spaces, we’re expanding European operations via a new partner network. This is a strategic move to allow a greater number of end-user customers and key system integrators to access SPX CommTech solutions, which are already helping to create a smarter, more secure future all over the world.”

Combining decades of technology innovation and expertise, SPX CommTech’s Tactical Data Link portfolio – developed by Enterprise Control Systems (ECS) – allows a range of aviation, security, military and emergency service teams to securely and reliably transfer video and data between enabled-aircraft and ground teams over long distances for airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) requirements. The ECS Evenlode system is operationally proven and provides its users with secure long range video and bidirectional TCP IP data transfer of up to 20 Mbs.

Alexander Fischer, member of the board of Directors at Global Aviation Systems: “With over 40 years’ experience in the aviation industry, at Global Aviation Systems we’re greatly customer orientated and rely on sustainable partnerships, based on clear and aligned business ethics. That’s why we’re working closely with SPX CommTech and the ECS team to support its growth in Central and Eastern Europe. We look forward to combining our strong customer relations and orientation, technical skills and experience in mission systems, with ECS’s high technical performance, quality products and excellent project management.”

Based in Germany, Global Aviation Systems will now provide SPX CommTech Tactical Data Link solutions, granting in-country technical support to its customers.

About SPX CommTech – ECS

SPX CommTech, part of SPX Technologies Inc, innovates specialised technologies within the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum to ensure a smarter, more secure future for all.

SPX CommTech’s Tactical Data Link portfolio allows intelligence gathering agencies, special forces, emergency response, and security teams to securely and reliably transfer video and data between enabled-aircraft and ground teams over long distances for airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR).

Combining decades of technology innovation and expertise with agile and collaborative teams, SPX CommTech delivers sustainable and exceptional results to customers across the globe – in regions including Europe, APAC, the Middle East and Africa.

For more information on SPX CommTech Tactical Data Links visit www.enterprisecontrol.co.uk

See the ECS LinkedIn post: (21) Post | LinkedIn

Fremont, CA – January 2023. TCI would like to congratulate the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) of Qatar for their successful conclusion to the FIFA World Cup Qatar.

Not only was the event efficiently run for hundreds of thousands of FIFA World Cup patrons, but behind the scenes CRA provided excellent communications for fans worldwide on their wireless devices during the entirety of the World Cup. In addition, all media and first responders had consistent clear channels of communication during the event.

In early 2022, CRA contracted with TCI International, Inc. to provide an upgraded network for radio frequency spectrum monitoring that provided enhanced radio frequency security during the event.

CRA’s installed RF monitoring network, consisting of seven TCI fixed spectrum monitoring stations, four TCI mobile spectrum monitoring stations, 13 TCI TDOA fixed stations, and two TCI TDOA transportable stations, provided continuous 24/7 spectrum monitoring from 9 kHz to 40 GHz. In addition, a full set of spare parts was delivered onsite that ensured continued operations during the event.

As part of their commitment to provide a stable and reliable radio spectrum, CRA implemented a special support services contract whereby two TCI senior field support engineers were onsite during the entire period of the World Cup. The engineers proactively monitored the health of the spectrum monitoring system and addressed any issues to guarantee that systems were in full operation at all times.

About TCI

TCI International, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPX Corporation. TCI provides turnkey solutions for spectrum management and monitoring, direction-finding, geolocation, and communications intelligence to civilian, government, military, and intelligence agencies and provides antennas for communications and high-power radio broadcasting. TCI is headquartered in Fremont, California, USA. For more information, contact ann.bustamante@spx.com.