Christopher Bean co-founded Aetheric on a conviction shaped by more than 35 years in lightning protection science and technology: that the world's critical and high-value infrastructure deserves more than reactive, rules-based solutions.
His career began in the field, designing and deploying protection systems for telecommunications, data centres, industrial facilities, and critical infrastructure across the United States, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. In 1991 he founded ALLTEC LLC, building it over nearly three decades into a globally recognised leader in lightning protection, grounding, and surge protection technology. That trajectory gave Chris a clear view of where the industry falls short: assessments that lag real-world conditions, protection that reacts rather than anticipates, and clients without a clear picture of their actual exposure.
Aetheric is the answer to that gap. Rigorous engineering combined with AI-driven intelligence delivered as a service, giving infrastructure owners a continuously informed, evidence-based view of their lightning risk and a partner who acts on it. Christopher also co-founded Skytree Scientific in 2024, the technology company behind the LRAplus® platform underpinning Aetheric's risk assessment and resiliency planning services.
Career Highlights
- 35 years in lightning protection science and technology, a recognised subject matter expert across critical infrastructure sectors
- Founded ALLTEC (1991) Built into a globally recognised leader in lightning protection, grounding, and surge protection technology over nearly three decades
- Co-founded Skytree Scientific (2024) AI-powered lightning risk assessment platform (LRAplus®) integrating real-time lightning location data with IEC 62305-2 risk calculations
- Founded Aetheric Expert consulting practice combining field-proven engineering expertise with AI-driven intelligence, delivered as a service
- International project experience United States, Latin America, APAC, and the Middle East
Areas of Expertise
- Lightning protection system design for critical and high-value infrastructure
- Grounding and earthing engineering and modelling
- Surge protection coordination
- AI-powered lightning risk assessment and predictive modelling
- Multi-jurisdictional standards compliance (IEC 62305, AS/NZS 1768:2021, NFPA 780)
- Enterprise lightning resiliency strategy
After 35 years in lightning protection, I co-founded Aetheric with a single conviction: that critical infrastructure deserves more than reactive engineering. We're building toward a fully integrated lightning intelligence ecosystem, real-time data, predictive risk modelling, and AI-driven insights, delivered as a service.
CHRISTOPHER BEAN · CO-FOUNDER, AETHERIC
Goodness Aula co-founded Aetheric on a conviction shaped by nearly two decades of energy-sector leadership across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Australia: that critical infrastructure performs better and lasts longer when it is managed with engineering rigour, not organisational habit.
A Materials and Metallurgical Engineer by training, Goodness has operated at the intersection of technical delivery and business leadership across oil and gas exploration, offshore construction, plant operations, asset integrity, and renewable energy, building the operational fluency that distinguishes an engineer who understands infrastructure from one who can govern it. In 2015 he founded Cainergy International Limited, an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction and Asset Management consultancy that grew under his leadership from a Nigerian practice into a multi-country group with operations across Australia, Africa, and the Middle East. Cainergy has delivered projects for Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Chevron, NNPC, Seplat, and Elcrest, a client list that reflects Goodness's ability to operate inside the most demanding technical and commercial environments in the upstream sector. In 2020 he co-founded Subdrill Exploration and Production Company, which accomplished a landmark achievement under his leadership: the acquisition of PPL256, the Asasa West Field, Offshore Nigeria, where the company holds a 93.7% equity stake.
At Aetheric, Goodness leads market development across APAC and West Africa. His prior relationships with major energy operators, international oil companies, and government institutions across both regions are a structural asset for the practice. He brings not just technical knowledge of the assets Aetheric serves, but the operational history and professional trust that open doors in markets where both are earned over years.
Career Highlights, Goodness Aula
- Nearly two decades of engineering and business leadership across oil and gas, power, mining, and renewable energy sectors
- Founded Cainergy International (2015): grew from a Nigerian engineering practice to a USD 30M group operating across four countries within four years
- Co-founded Subdrill Exploration and Production (2020): landmark acquisition of PPL256, Asasa West Field, Offshore Nigeria, with a 93.7% equity stake
- Founded Orifice Engineering, Brisbane: premium engineering consultancy for the Australian market
- Co-founded Aetheric: leads market development across APAC and West Africa
- International project experience: Nigeria, UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Germany, Turkmenistan, and Australia
Areas of Expertise, Goodness Aula
- Asset integrity management and risk-based inspection
- Engineering, procurement, and construction leadership
- Oil and gas field acquisition and operations
- Upstream joint venture and national oil company engagement
- Quality management systems (ISO 9001:2015)
- Business development and market entry across West Africa, the Middle East, and Australia
Education, Goodness Aula
- Master of Engineering Science (Engineering Management), University of Southern Queensland, Australia
- Bachelor of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria
The most important thing I bring to Aetheric is the perspective of someone who has operated the assets we protect. I know what it costs when critical infrastructure fails. I know who the decisions matter to. That shapes everything about how we engage.
GOODNESS AULA · CO-FOUNDER, AETHERICFrom Experience to Conviction
Between them, Christopher and Goodness have spent decades observing the same set of failure patterns from opposite sides of the lightning protection relationship, Chris from the side that designs and delivers the systems, Goodness from the side that operates and manages the assets they're built to protect. Aetheric was founded on what they jointly observed:
- Assessments lag behind reality: risk calculations based on outdated keraunic maps and manual methods, disconnected from actual lightning activity at the site
- Protection strategies react rather than anticipate: systems designed for conditions at the time of installation, with no mechanism to adapt as facilities evolve, standards update, and climate patterns shift
- Clients lack visibility: infrastructure owners left without a clear, current picture of their actual exposure, relying on assumptions rather than evidence
- Knowledge walks out the door: protection expertise retained by individual consultants rather than embedded in systems and processes that persist
Aetheric was founded to close these gaps. By pairing Christopher's deep authority in lightning protection science and technology with Goodness's operational fluency in critical infrastructure asset management, and the analytical platforms and service model needed to deliver continuously informed protection management, Aetheric offers what the industry has been missing.
Skytree Scientific & Aetheric
Christopher co-founded Skytree Scientific in 2024, integral to Aetheric's positioning. The LRAplus® platform is the AI-powered analytical engine behind Aetheric's risk assessment studies, replacing manual calculation with automated multi-variable IEC 62305-2:2024 analysis on real-time lightning location data.
This dual role, engineering consultancy and technology co-founder, gives Aetheric a structural advantage: direct influence over the development of the tools the practice depends on, ensuring the platform evolves in lockstep with the engineering demands of the projects it serves.
- LRAplus®: AI-powered lightning risk assessment with real-time lightning location data
- Multi-standard compliance: IEC 62305-2, AS/NZS 1768:2021, and NFPA 780 Annex L
- Climate intelligence: current lightning activity data supporting forward-looking risk assessment
The Broader Team
Beyond our co-founders, Aetheric's team combines deep technical expertise in lightning protection and earthing engineering with practical project delivery experience across our target sectors. Our people hold relevant qualifications in electrical engineering and maintain current knowledge of the standards, tools, and techniques that define best practice in lightning protection.
We invest in continuous professional development, staying current with standard revisions, attending industry conferences, and maintaining proficiency with our analytical platforms. When a new edition of IEC 62305 or AS/NZS 1768 is published, our team doesn't wait for a client project to learn what changed.