Christopher Todd, your host, welcomes Art Pregler, director of strategic initiatives for AT&T, which is quite a dramatic program in the UAS field for disaster response and other operations.

Art Pregler is AT&T’s UAS Program Director responsible for nationwide oversight and internal implementation of drones. He is also Director of National Mobility Systems, responsible for the development of enterprise data systems. Prior to AT&T, Art served DOD, NASA, DARPA, and other technology-focused agencies as a Command & Control Officer, Air Traffic Controller, Air Weapons Controller, and Mission Control Specialist. Art is a member of the joint FAA/drone industry Unmanned Aircraft Safety Team (UAST); and RTCA Special Committee 228 (Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems); and the NATE UAS Committee; the FAA’s 2016 mUAS Aviation Rule-Making Committee (ARC) for flight over people; and the Washington Governor’s Unmanned Systems Industry Council.

Key Takeaways:

[1:19] How did Art start in the unmanned air systems industry?

[2:46] What was it like working in the 80s at the second rise of the American Space Program?

[4:33] Art shares his thoughts about the work of SpaceX.

[5:29] How did Art make the transition to work at AT&T?

[7:15] How did AT&T start in unmanned aircraft systems?

[12:04] Art explains how AT&T’s work contributes to the field of first responders and emergency management.

[12:58] What is a COW from AT&T’s perspective?

[13:49] Art gives examples of the ways they are using AT&T’s technology.

[14:45] Art talks about how AT&T works on floods and tornadoes.

[15:29] How many people can be covered with a single COW?

[16:17] What does a Flying COW look like?

[18:56] How does AT&T interact with the FAA?

[20:02] Art talks about the culture of aviation safety established at AT&T.

[21:50] How did AT&T develop its standards?

[22:08] How to become an AT&T remote pilot.

[24:10] Art talks about the logistics operations for unmanned aircraft.

[27:25] Art shares some of the key learnings he developed over his last couple of deployments that impacted the UAS program.

[29:25] Art shares his view of the future of unmanned aviation.

Mentioned in this episode:

Airborne International Response Team

AIRT is the leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supporting Drones For Good and Public Safety UAS

Become a member of Drone Responders for free.

DRONERESPONDERS YouTube Channel

DRONERESPONDERS on Facebook.

Christopher Todd, your host, welcomes Brandon Torres Declet to today’s episode. Brandon is the Co-founder and CEO of Measure and a new member of the Drone Advisory Committee. He shares today how he got involved in the drone industry, founded Measure, became a member of the Drone Advisory Committee, and the evolution of the commercial drone industry.

Brandon Torres Declet is widely recognized as the leading Latino entrepreneur in the drone industry. As a lawyer, public policy expert, and CEO, Brandon has a unique understanding of drone innovation and a firsthand appreciation for how policy challenges may impact drone operations. In 2014, Brandon co-founded Measure, a leading aerial intelligence company, and as CEO, grew the company to the top five percent of drone firms by revenue. Brandon sold the Measure drone services business to the Aerodyne Group in 2019. Today, Measure offers a drone-agnostic, turnkey aerial intelligence software solution that includes mission planning, data collection, data processing, data analysis, and intelligence reporting that can transform the way businesses make decisions using drones. Under his leadership, Measure completed tens of thousands of missions with zero reportable incidents and collected data on high-value assets.

Key Takeaways:

[1:28] Brandon shares how he first got involved in unmanned aviation.

[3:23] How did Brandon start in the drone space?

[6:36] We have to find a way of making money even without the regulations.

[10:00] It is hard to start a business; the drone service is like any other business.

[12:04] Brandon talks about the commercial aspect of drones.

[12:32] Brandon shares his perspective about Dronebase.

[14:25].At what point did Brandon shift the business model for Measure?

[17:35] Brandon talks about the pitfalls he wishes he would have avoided.

[20:08] 3D Robotics went through an evolution producing drones and then getting crushed on pricing. Today, the industry has its first unicorn with Skydio. What has shifted?

[23:54] Brandon shares about his role in the Drone Advisory Committee and what he would like to accomplish as a member.

[27:33] In technology, things move at the speed of light but the government does not.

[28:02] Where does Brandon see the value proposition for disaster response and public safety, moving toward?

[29:30] Brandon talks about his plans for the future.

Mentioned in this episode:

Airborne International Response Team

AIRT is the leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supporting Drones For Good and Public Safety UAS

Become a member of Drone Responders for free.

DRONERESPONDERS YouTube Channel

DRONERESPONDERS on Facebook.

Measure

Drone Advisory Committee

Christopher Todd, your host, welcomes Ken Stewart to today’s episode. Ken was the CEO of AirXos (part of GE Aviation) and recently took a new position with NuAir in New York State. Ken shares all about what NuAir is up to and where he sees the industry heading.

Ken Stewart is a versatile, global business leader with 20 years of business development, strategic planning, sales/marketing, and product development/line-of-business management experience in diverse industries including wireless communications, Industrial IoT solutions and services, and government. Ken has domestic and international experience.

Key Takeaways:

[1:35] Ken talks about his background and how he became involved in unmanned aviation.

[4:13] Ken talks about the element that people tend to miss out on regards to the challenges of 5G.

[5:14] Is there a new infrastructure for UTM (Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management)?

[6:37] Ken talks about his experience in AirXos.

[9:41] Ken speaks about the challenges of starting a company.

[13:02] Chris and Ken talk about the problem with the budget available for unmanned aviation systems.

[14:03] Ken shares how COVID-19 impacted AirXos.

[15:13] Ken talks about starting to work with NuAir.

[17:03] Ken describes NuAir.

[18:35] Ken talks about the terrain they are working in now.

[19:14] What kinds of partners is NuAir working with?

[21:28] Ken talks about the aim of the operations he is managing at NuAir.

[22:31] Where does Ken see the unmanned aviation industry heading?

[25:02] Ken shares his thoughts about what unmanned aircraft systems could do to gain more credibility around the manned aviation industry.

[26:44] What is the impact of the new administration on the FAA and over the industry in general?

Mentioned in this episode:

Airborne International Response Team

AIRT is the leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supporting Drones For Good and Public Safety UAS

Become a member of Drone Responders for free.

DRONERESPONDERS YouTube Channel

DRONERESPONDERS on Facebook.

NuAir