Howard Charles Reader, PhD, Managing Director
Howard Reader founded MESA Solutions in 2002 along with two research colleagues. His research in electromagnetics and high-frequency metrology goes back to the mid-1980s when he completed a PhD on time-domain techniques for antenna analysis at St John’s College, Cambridge. His research and consultation in industry has included work in complex metrology, time-domain electromagnetics, antenna engineering, and microwave dielectric heating. All of this has provided the platform for his sustained activities in EMC since the 1990’s. Howard has contributed to a broad spectrum of technical work in MESA and was actively involved in the EMI characterization and management of South Africa’s Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and related earlier phases of the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT). He remains involved in EMC and metrology topics, primarily linked to SKA-related work. Howard’s academic career began in 1986 and had an EMC research focus between 1994 and 2014 when he held the Chair of High Frequency Electronics, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University. He has published extensively and is a senior member of the IEEE, co-founder of the South African IEEE EMC Chapter, is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), is a Chartered Engineer (UK), and served for several years as South Africa’s Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale (URSI) Commission E (EMI) Chair. Howard spent nearly 6 years in Austria, working as Innovation Process Manager in a well-known HV metrology company and returned in mid-2020 to resume his role as Managing Director of MESA.
Joely Andriambeloson,
PhD, Specialist EMC Engineer
Joely Andriambeloson's expertise in electromagnetics began in 2009 when he joined the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa for postgraduate studies. His research focussed on the SKA project and was funded by the South African SKA and National Research Foundation. He received his MScEng and PhD degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2011 and 2014, respectively. He subsequently continued his research at a postdoctoral level for two years, focussing on high-frequency metrology. Joely also has a background in physics, with an MSc degree in geophysics from the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Prior to 2009, he was an active member of the seismic and infrasound laboratory of Madagascar, a subdivision within the Institute and Observatory of Geophysics of Antananarivo also known as IOGA. He was involved in various projects on the Madagascar seismic observation network and the CTBTO infrasound monitoring station. His present work in EMC includes: material shielding effectiveness evaluation, antenna design, time-domain electromagnetic database analysis and complex EMC problem-solving.
Ursula Reader, PhD,
Financial and Strategic Support Officer
Ursula Reader has been involved in the structures of MESA Solutions since its inception. She received
a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Stellenbosch in 2000, having graduated in 1984 from St
John’s College, Cambridge, with an M.Phil. in Philosophy of Religion and Christian Ethics. From 1998
to 2014 as a part-time lecturer, she specialized in teaching Applied Engineering Ethics and
Philosophy of Culture and Technology, both at the University of Stellenbosch and at Cape Peninsula
University of Technology. More recently, during a five-year stay in Austria, she has been translating
and teaching business English predominantly in German-speaking engineer companies. From 2002-
2014, Ursula took short courses in financial management and co-ordinated MESA’s affairs. In July 2020 she returned to MESA as Financial and Strategic Support Officer.
Kurt Michael Coetzer,
PhD,
Senior EMC Engineer
Kurt Coetzer received his B.Eng degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Stellenbosch University in 2016. His M.Eng degree in Electrical Engineering, also from Stellenbosch University, was received Cum Laude in 2018. His thesis, titled "Investigating PV module failure mechanisms caused by indirect lightning strikes", resulted in him receiving the Rector's Award from the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Engineering as the Top Masters Student of 2018. The research also led to the IEEE EMC Society President's Memorial Award in 2019, and again in 2020. He has presented at numerous national and international conferences in the disciplines of energy and EMC. In early 2024, Kurt completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering - also at Stellenbosch University. His dissertation, titled "Nonlinear High-Frequency Circuit-Electromagnetic Hybrid Modelling of Photovoltaic Modules", leveraged recent advances in computational electromagnetic software to produce measurement-based, high-frequency models of photovoltaic modules. These models considered both nonlinear circuit behaviour and the influence of the 3D structural layouts. He is a Member of the IEEE, the IEEE EMC Society, and the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.
Casey James Bryant, MEng, Mechatronic and EMC Engineer
Casey Bryant received his B.Tech in Mechatronics from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cum Laude in 2019. His M.Eng degree in Satellite Systems and Applications, also from Cape Peninsula University of Technology, was completed in 2022 with a study on cost-effective methods to pre-characterise antennas at tertiary educational institutions. This was done in conjunction with the French South African Institute of Technology (FSATI). In 2021 he began part-time work with MESA Solutions which had links to his postgraduate research. During this period, he strengthened his understanding of EM propagation and EMC, starting full-time with MESA in 2022. Casey brings with him a mechanical background with a pragmatic hands-on approach and an eagerness to tackle a wide variety of challenges.