Charistech Engineers & Consultants
Streamlining Rail Asset Management with Systematic Systems Engineering

The rail asset management space is dynamic and increasingly complex, encompassing the complete maintenance of critical railway infrastructure. The need to implement efficient, safe, and sustainable systems while ensuring reliable operations and compliance with changing regulatory requirements remains at the forefront.

In this intricate landscape, Charistech Engineers & Consultants stands out as a rail asset management vendor specializing in systems engineering and integrations.

The firm is led by president and CEO, Jennifer Mariani, Ph.D., an industry expert with three decades of professional experience in diverse industry sectors, including research, engineering, defense, software, and construction. Her academic achievements include a doctorate in mechanical engineering from UC Davis and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is a member of International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). This extensive interdisciplinary background allows her to holistically understand a system engineer’s importance in integrating complex projects.

Powered by her expertise, Charistech offers assistance in defining, refining, and vetting requirements and specifications during the design phase of a project. This includes fulfilling a traceability matrix to track design requirements and providing a process workflow that helps project managers deliver projects. In addition, it can manage detailed verification and validation testing plans and procedures while preparing documents like operations and maintenance manuals.

Mariani is involved in all of Charistech’s projects from start to finish, employing a unique business model that enables it to better serve clients. Along with managing requirements and developing technical specifications, Charistech adopts systems engineering management processes, integration, and checklists to deliver design, systems testing, procedure preparation, and test reports.

Since many rail asset management systems are engineered to function seamlessly with each other, it is crucial to define the similar responsibilities that contractors and subcontractors share. However, businesses often fail to recognize the need for systematic processes until 90 percent of project completion, isolating various disciplines, assemblies, and components like train control, communications, emergency, and ventilation systems. The firm resolves this issue by integrating siloed subsystems into a cohesive whole, completing a project’s intended design requirements.

In essence, Charistech serves as an integrator that minimizes risks while consolidating complex systems for large infrastructure and rail transportation projects involving various firms and sub-consultants.

“We view ourselves as the ‘glue’ that facilitates effective cross-communication across various rail transportation disciplines, providing a unified project view supported by our extensive systems engineering expertise,” says Mariani.

Mariani is adept at collaborating with various teams, from forward-thinking teams that quickly realize Charistech’s service value to more traditional ones that require significant offering-related enlightenment. Large-scale transit projects quickly understood the importance of her services in resolving their complexities cohesively. Simultaneously, Mariani can identify whether traditional construction projects like buildings, pedestrian bridges and structures need her assistance, demonstrating Charistech’s flexibility and realistic approach to designing solutions.

In one instance, a client sought for its expertise in systems integration testing for their emergency management panels. They required assistance in planning and conducting multiple tests to meet project deadlines. Through a systematic and detail-oriented process, Charistech efficiently conducted the necessary tests, developed reports on them, and prepared for the next testing round without delay. Furthermore, it offered valuable insights to address this client’s ongoing challenges.

Another story involved Charistech as a customer’s sub-consultant offering technical specification services. This was a novel situation because typically, the role of the specifications writer is overseen by another discipline. Fortunately, its prime contractors recognized the importance of a dedicated team to provide valuable insights during the design process and prepare clear, concise, and complete technical specifications. This endeavor’s success was attributed to using systems engineering processes and checklists to properly validate the requirements, reducing project risks and preventing numerous change orders.

From large-scale infrastructure projects like Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), LA Metro, Los Angeles World Airport (LAWA), and City of Milpitas to more traditional construction endeavors, Charistech proves its adaptability and value repeatedly. Its successful stories serve as testaments to its ability to turn potential chaos into a coordinated, streamlined process, thereby reducing project risks and eliminating costly change orders.

If there's one takeaway from Charistech's exemplary service record, it's this: In a realm where complexity is a given, clarity, integration, and expert leadership aren't just luxuries; they're necessities. Charistech delivers on all these fronts, making it an invaluable partner in any rail asset management project. With Mariani at the helm, this firm is engineering the future of efficient, safe, and sustainable rail systems, one successful project at a time.