InSync Technology

Paola Hobson joined InSync Technology in 2014 and has been Managing Director since 2016.  Her focus is on continuing InSync’s growth as a major supplier of conversion hardware and software, delivering new and innovative solutions to long-standing and recent customers. In addition to company management, Paola contributes to professional development initiatives within the broadcast industry through regular publications, presentations and blogs, as well as support for local student projects, and is a member of the IABM UK Member Council. Paola holds numerous patents in image processing, content personalization, and mobile video, as well as BSc, Ph.D and MBA degrees.

James Shepherd has been Chief Technology Officer of InSync Technology since 2015. He is responsible for the overall technical direction of the company. His career has focused on motion estimation techniques applied to video processing applications such as standards conversion, de-interlacing, image stabilisation and content identification. James has directed the complete development process from specification and architecture through implementation and release of numerous products – based on HDL for FPGA, custom DSP ASICs, embedded software and pure software applications. In the course of product development he has researched novel algorithms such as non-linear filtering techniques, state of the art film-cadence detection, repair, conversion – and holds a number of patents in these areas. James studied Engineering Science at the University of Oxford and previously worked for Snell as Principal Design Engineer.

Charlotte was appointed Operations Director at InSync Technology in 2013, following several years running our operations and production department. She is responsible for managing all operations including supply chain management, production scheduling, sales processing and the accounting function. Charlotte enjoys the challenges of working in an evolving technology company and being part of a cohesive and diverse team. Charlotte previously worked within the Aker Solutions Group as a Project Control Manager. It was here she gained an HNC in Mechanical Engineering and went on to study Business & Finance at Portsmouth University.

Lee’s design experience spans both the video and audio disciplines but his formidable experience of all aspects of analog, AES and Dolby E audio is an invaluable resource adding significantly to InSync’s ability to undertake feature rich product commissions. Lee has implemented many hardware and high speed digital designs including their embedded software drivers. Lee previously worked at Snell & Wilcox as a Senior Engineer and at De La Rue where he was a test and commissioning engineer for cash sorting machines.

Richard joined the InSync team in 2006 and has been head of the embedded software team since 2017. He started his career in an academic environment investigating high resolution passive sonar before moving into the commercial sector as an FPGA designer implementing state of the art aspect ratio converters and composite decoders. He has extensive experience of detailed mathematical modelling, including digital filter design and analysis, both in general signal processing terms and also specifically tailored to video applications. In his current role, in addition to video HDR modelling and implementation he is also responsible for product integration and liaising with customers to ensure that our releases are timely and meet expectations. He is also InSync’s employee member of the Employee Benefit Trust.

Dave is now on his second company directorship after steering Pearpoint from £10k to £5m turnover in the 1980s. He took ten years out to pursue his passion for implementing complex software structures as a Principal Engineer at Snell & Wilcox where he earned “Software Guru” status from his peers. He is a co-founder of InSync Technology and continues to be hands on, heading the implementation of all aspects of software for the company. He specialises in the software architecture and design, including network control and monitoring, but also is experienced in PC software and hardware design.

Tim has designed hardware for video, microprocessor and PC interfaces. He has extensive experience of hardware design and firmware implementation using VHDL. His expertise includes video keyers, fibre optic interfaces, 1GHz Power PC, Gigabit Ethernet and dual SCSI controllers. He enjoys being involved with the whole product lifecycle from conception through to production. Tim previously worked at Aston Broadcast and Snell & Wilcox. He graduated with a 2:1 MEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 1998.