Who we are

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Richard Taylor

Shepherd Taylor Superconducting Pty Ltd (STS) was founded in July 2022 and is actively conducting research and engineering development in the following areas: high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology for magnetics and quantum electronics for ultra-sensitive RF front-end receivers.

Prior to this, Richard co-founded two companies: Mesaplexx Pty Ltd and Mosaic Information Technology Pty Ltd. These involved the design, manufacture and marketing of next-generation solutions for the wireless telecommunications market worldwide, and state-of-the-art electronic data communications equipment.

Richard holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Queensland, is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ). Richard’s broad range of expertise covers material development such as the production of bulk HTS and applications involving multi-disciplinary cryo-based communications systems. 

Since 2010, Richard Taylor has been employed part-time in the School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics within the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Engineering Faculty. Richard has been instrumental in establishing specialist QUT research and teaching facilities including a heavy current laboratory, the Applied Superconductivity Laboratory (ASL) and the quality assessment of commercial HTS tapes using quantum sensors.

  • Timothy Cosgrove

    DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER

    Tim holds a B.E(Hons) in Electrical Engineering and currently working on his PhD in Applied Quantum Communication Systems. STS utilises his extensive background in microwave engineering alongside his expertise in microwave design software (CST) to design sensitive front-end receivers. He is presently working on the integration of quantum electronics for communication systems. Tim currently leads one of the major projects within STS that focuses on ultra sensitive front-end receivers.

  • Shawn Nielsen

    SENIOR ENGINEER

    Shawn obtained a BSc (Elec Eng) (1990) and PhD (Eng) (2002) from the University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg in South Africa. His main areas of study were in High Voltage Engineering, primarily the gas breakdown physics of SF6 compressed gas insulation. Shawn has acquired a broad range of work experience both locally and international within power utilities, power equipment manufactures as well as academic institutions. During this time, he has published numerous academic papers. Shawn currently works in the field of applied superconductivity and cryogenics.

  • Igor Kondratiev

    APPLICATIONS ENGINEER

    Igor was awarded his PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of South Carolina. During his career, he has developed a broad range of expertise in electrical and electronics engineering, power systems, control design and computer science, and innovative applications. At STS, Igor combines theoretical and practical aspects of his expertise for software development, simulation, control design and optimisation, as well as electronics design, virtualisation, magnetic signature analysis, superconducting tape characterisation and AI applications.