How does that work? That’s a question that Ed Novak has been asking himself ever since he was a young kid. Curious and analytical, he loved to take things apart just to put them back together, intrigued by the way anything is made. He grew up in Middletown, Connecticut, in a farming culture, so he had the patience, focus and perseverance to put all that curiosity to work, too. Tinkering with toys led to tinkering with electrical devices, and before long, Ed realized he could make a career out of making stuff work. So, he entered the field of electrical engineering, and we’re lucky to have him on our team at Universal Connectivity. 

Ed pursued a B.S.E.E. with a concentration in digital communications at the University of Connecticut and graduated in 1988. During his studies, he also traveled abroad to study engineering for a year and attended the University of Essex in Colchester, England. He ran the business unit of the software company Networking Service Group for 17 years before landing at Universal Connectivity in 2004. For just over five years, he applied his curiosity and a penchant for tinkering to both our engineering and marketing efforts. 

Now, Ed helps lead our company as vice president of Technical Operations. With a pragmatic approach and a meticulous eye, he tackles the technical challenges that our clients face by asking the same question he’s always asked: How does that work? Sometimes what our clients need is a resolution to an existing problem, and sometimes what they need is a brand-new technical solution that allows their business to run smoothly and successfully. Ed takes the load off our clients by taking things apart, understanding how they function, and putting them back together to ensure productivity, scalability and impact. 

It’ll probably come as no surprise that Ed considers himself a pretty big puzzle guy. In his downtime, he can’t help but solve crosswords, Sudoku, jig-saws and other problem-solving games. He also enjoys cooking and finding the best wines and the finest bourbons to pair with homemade dishes. If he had the opportunity to indulge in a getaway, he’d sail the Aegean Sea with his wife and some close friends, island-hopping the Greek Isles.