Profile Spotlight on: Dunstan Power


Components in Electronics (CIE) editor Catherine Hackett sat down recently with Dunstan Power, managing director and co-founder of ByteSnap Design and Versinetic. From his early days as an electronics hobbyist to leading two award-winning consultancies in embedded systems and EV charging technology, Dunstan shares insights into innovation, industry challenges, and the future of UK electronics.


CIE: What first sparked your interest in electronics? Dunstan Power (DP): I was definitely an electronics nerd at school. We had an electronics club run by a physics teacher, and a close friend was always bringing in things he’d built at home. A few of us got really into it. I was a hobbyist, building all sorts of fun projects at home too, electrocuting myself occasionally, and leaving ferric chloride stains on the carpet from making PCBs.


Back in the 1980s, you could build things cheaper than you could buy them, which made it even more exciting. I was also a drummer, and I designed a metronome that let you set different time signatures and tempos. I used to take it to job interviews – it genuinely helped me get hired. STEM education in schools was crucial for me. That electronics club was one of the main reasons I ended up in this career.


CIE: How did your career evolve from hands-on engineering to running your own business? DP: I went to Cambridge and studied general engineering – there was not much electronics in it. Really, my hobbyist knowledge was probably more important than anything else.


My first electronics job was at Loughborough Sound Images, designing digital signal processing boards. It was a fantastic place to work, and many people from there have gone on to start companies still active in the industry. After that, I moved into professional audio, designing live sound mixing desks – perfect for someone who plays drums and loves music. In 1998, I moved into consultancy with NMI and stayed for six years before going self-employed in 2004. Graeme Wintle and I founded ByteSnap Design at the start of 2008. We’d worked together at NMI and got on really well. When our old company’s European office closed, Graeme and I decided it was the right moment to start a business. We had a few customers from day one, and by August 2008 we’d hired our


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Dunstan Power, managing director and co-founder of ByteSnap Design and Versinetic


first employee and moved into an office. Since then, we’ve grown steadily and organically.


CIE: What kinds of clients and projects do you typically work with? DP: We specialise in embedded products – which covers almost anything with a single, specific purpose.


We’ve worked with household names – our biggest market is the UK, followed by the US, and we also have clients across Europe and Australia.


On the software side, we’ve developed apps for companies. In embedded systems, our work includes cashpoint hardware and software, designed access control products, medical devices, heating systems, and automotive audio components. We’ve also


Components in Electronics


done award-winning work in intrinsically safe (ATEX) design, which is a niche but highly specialised area.


CIE: Can you share some recent standout products you’ve helped bring to market? DP: One example is our work with Inductosense, who have patented technology for measuring pipe thickness. We designed an intrinsically safe version of their product that could read eight pipes, run on battery power for five years, and operate from Alaskan to Saudi Arabian temperatures. It won a design award and is a great example of the fullstack projects we do – embedded hardware, firmware, casing, and application software. We’ve also recently developed a handheld scanner for them, which we showcased at the Engineering Design Show [in October 2025].


CIE: What would you say are the biggest milestones in your career? DP: Going self-employed was a big leap – especially with young children at the time. But founding ByteSnap Design was the real milestone. Building a proper business with an office and a growing team was hugely rewarding.


Another major milestone was designing control boards for EV chargers at the London 2012 Olympics. The chargers installed at the venues weren’t smart enough to meet Transport for London’s requirements, so we created retrofit control boards that added smart functionality. That project led us further into the EV charging space and ultimately to the creation of our company Versinetic. By 2017 we were getting so many enquiries into EV charging work that we


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