Linda McLaughlin is Conference Program Manager at Diversified Communications, an international media company with more than 15 years’ experience in producing world-renowned events for precision measurement professionals.  If you’re in this field, then you have most likely have attended one of their events, including SPAR 3D Conference & Expo, the International Lidar Mapping Forum or the Commercial UAV Expo.

In 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Diversified launched a virtual version of its successful Commercial UAV Expo.  In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Linda provides insights into this year’s event, some of the topics that were covered, and a few lessons learned from the online event.

Are you ready for a drone industry update?

Romeo Durscher is Director of Public Safety Integration at DJI, the world’s leading maker of civilian drones and aerial imaging technology. Born and raised in Switzerland, Romeo came to DJI after 13 years at NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. As part of his work advising first responders and humanitarian organizations, Romeo has actively participated in drone missions for search and rescue operations, natural disasters, live-fire training exercises. He leads DJI’s partnership with the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), which has developed protocols for public safety officials to integrate drones into their work. Commercial UAV News named Romeo one of the 25 most influential people in the commercial drone industry, as well as one of the top 7 drone visionaries in emergency response & public safety. Romeo has appeared in media forums from ABC’s Good Morning America to Wired magazine.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Romeo talks about drones in public safety, current trends in the industry, a DJI product update and how drones helping to combat mosquito borne diseases.

Can Drones Democratize Research and Data Collection of our Oceans?

Dr. Iain Kerr is CEO of Ocean Alliance, a non-profit organization with a mission to protect whales and their ocean environment through research, scientific collaboration, public education, and the arts.  For almost 40 years, Ocean Alliance has made a positive difference in this world. Their staff works to carry out its mission with scientific integrity to help protect and preserve the marine environment on which the lives of all of us, people as well as whales, are utterly dependent.

Iain began his career at Ocean Alliance as a volunteer and has grown with the organization over the last 30 years. He is listed as author on over 35 scientific papers and has ensured that Ocean Alliance messages reach the general public through international television and films. Iain has led international conservation research efforts across the globe. As a result of exposing illegal sea cucumber fishing in the Galapagos, Iain received the SOS Grand Blue award in 1994. He was awarded the Chevron Conservation Award in 2006 and in 2014 the Annenberg Foundation listed Iain as one of 25 visionary leaders.

In 2013, Iain recognized that drones could be the future of whale research and conservation. During an attempt to collect samples from a whale, he was sprayed by whale’s blow hole. This chance encounter set him on a quest to develop a way that a drone collect whale samples expended through their blow holes.  This ultimately let to the creation of the Snot Bot and a opened the door to a new type of whale research, one that democratizes data, enabling groups throughout the world to conduct research and collect data on marine mammals that they would not be able to do using expensive research vessels.

In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Iain talks about Ocean Alliance, the evolution of the Snot Bot and how drones can spur more research of our oceans, which ultimately impacts the entire ecosystem of the world.

What do we need to know to deliver medical supplies via drones?

Pharns Genece is CEO and Founder of Unmanned Systems Operation Group, a pioneering logistics solutions company specializing in unmanned systems and secure drone delivery missions.  The company’s autonomous systems are integrated with a next-generation electric delivery truck, which features a control center for an unmanned aerial vehicle operator and an auto-launch and recovery system located on the vehicle’s rooftop.  Pharns is a former US Air Force Medevac with 18 years’ experience as a highly trained flight nurse, certified to administer critical and emergency care for patients during flight rescue operations. 

Formerly an Audio Engineer and Technical Lead at The Walt Disney Company in Anaheim, CA. Pharns' interest in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles goes back many years.  He has integrated and flown numerous UAV platforms.  He is a graduate of the MiraCosta College UAV/ROV Operators and Technicians program, an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot, holds an FAA Daylight Waiver for night operations, and is a TOP Certified Pilot and a member of the FAA Safety Team.  Phans has combined his medical and technical skills with a passion for UAVs and founded Unmanned Systems Operations Group. The company recently embarked a pilot project to deliver prescriptions from a pharmacy to customer’s at home.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Pharns talks about Unmanned Systems Operation Group, the exciting new drone delivery pilot project and the future of drone delivery.

What’s it Take to Grow Your Brand in the Drone Industry?

Desi Ekstein is founder of “On The Go Video.biz”, a drone services provider and educator for the UAS industry since 2015. On the To Video provides consulting, training, and safety education services. 

I interviewed Desi five years ago, when she had just entered the drone industry.  At that time, her passion for drones earned her the nickname, “Drone Diva Desi”.  And over the years, that passion has continued to drive her forward.  Since 2015, her list of accomplishments is impressive. 

Desi is one of the first women to obtain an FAA Certified 107 Remote Pilot certificate and a member of the FAA Wings program.  She is a graduate of the Gold Seal UAV Ground School, a Lead FAASTeam Representative Drone Pro in San Diego, an AUVSI San Diego Board member, and a AUVSI TOP Level 3 pilot. She is an UAS Operations instructor at TCI MiraCosta College and has a night endorsement. Desi is involved with several STEM and STEAM outreach programs such as, the Elementary Science Institute “Girls Take Flight” program for young women. She is also an advisor to Women and Drones.

In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Desi traces her path from part-time hobbyist to full-time commercial drone operator and educator.  She shares her experiences, provides some advice and lessons learn and shows that anyone with a passion and time, can establish a successful presence in the drone industry.

Do drones have a place in supporting social movements?

Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick is an author, educator, and speaker. Austin’s work focuses on politics, culture, technology, and social change. He holds concurrent academic appointments at the University of San Diego and University of Nottingham and has been a visiting scholar at Oxford, University of California at San Diego, and Yale.  He is the author of several books and commentaries on social movements.  His recent book, The Good Drone: How Social Movements Democratize Surveillance shows how small-scale drones, satellites, kites, and balloons are used by social movements for the greater good. 

Politics and technology have always had a complicated relationship. Social media has upended assumptions about how politicians, voters, and protestors communicate. In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Austin talks about The Good Drone, and demonstrates the importance of technology to politics. But argues we mustn't stop with social media. New technology in the air (drones, for example) changes politics on the ground, and democratizes surveillance along the way. 

Can Drones Help to Restore Consumer Confidence in this Time Of the Coronavirus?

For that question, we head to Fargo, North Dakota and speak with Anthony Molzahn, CEO and co-founder of Project Phoenix. Project Phoenix is software company and developer of AegisFlow, an online marketplace for drone pilots to upload, stream, share and sell photos, videos and 3D modeling content. As the CEO of a software company and operator of a drone services platform, Anthony has a unique view of the drone ecosystem in Fargo. I recently spoke with Anthony about how the coronavirus was affecting that ecosystem. His answers surprised me.  In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Anthony shares his insights into how drone operators are adapting to business under the coronavirus, how the North Dakota Department of Commerce is encouraging local businesses to deploy measures that will restore consumer confidence and how drone businesses are using the technology to create value, while supporting economic stability.

Where do you go when you need hardware solutions for your UAVs?

Bob Schmidt is the Founder and President of UAV Propulsion Tech, an unmanned aerial vehicle hardware solution provider of nearly everything having to with UAVs. The company markets global UAV technology to the defense and commercial UAV markets. These include commercial off the shelf (COTs) and custom hardware solutions that are flying on several high-end global UAV platforms.

Bob has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (rom Lawrence Technological University, a Master of Science in Administration from Central MI University, and has over 30 years industry experience in automotive propulsion/fuel systems and aerospace UAV hardware solutions. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Bob talks about UAV Propulsion Tech, the UAV hardware supply market and he provides his perspective on the growth of the drone industry.

Is it possible to deliver packages with drones under current Part 107 rules?

Today’s two guests say they already have. Both are from DroneUp, a drone services company that provides end-to-end aerial data solutions by matching a organization’s data collection and delivery needs with the right hardware, software, training, pilots, and program integration requirements. Brendan Stewart is the Training Director responsible for training and program development for enterprise and public safety clients. Joe Fuller is CIO and designs aerial data capture and processing for clients to ensure a return on investment in their drone projects.

In early April of this year, the duo led a series of tests to demonstrate package deliveries by drones under Part 107 regulations. Over the span of 3 days, the exercises focused on delivery to residential and commercial areas with the aim of identifying best practices for safe operations. In this edition of the Drone Raido Show, Brendan and Joe talk about Drone Up, the Last Mile Drone Delivery Challenge and the lessons learned from the demonstration project.

How do you make drone data actionable?

Jono Millin is co-founder and CCO of DroneDeploy, a cloud-based software company that specializes in building solutions for mapping business assets with drones.  DroneDeploy powers tens of thousands of commercial drone operators from 160 countries to make automated, high-resolution 2D maps and 3D models . At Drone Deploly, Jono is responsible for the overall customer experience of the DroneDeploy platform.   He has a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Rhodes University.

In this episode of the Drone Radio Show Podcast, Jono talks about DroneDeploy, the successful growth of drones in the agricultural sector and he share some insights into how make the conversation around the data to engage customers in decision making.

What’s the market for long-distance drone delivery service?

Daniel Buchmueller is CTO of Volansi. Volansi builds and operates long-range, high-payload unmanned aerial systems for various applications, helping their customers save millions of dollars on down-time costs. The company operates two remote piloted drones capable of delivering payloads up to 350 miles.  Before joining Volansi, Daniel was Vice President and Head of Drone Cargo at Airbus, and before that, he was co-founder of Amazon Prime Air. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Daniel talks about Volansi’s long-distance drone service, the Voly C-10 and M-20 long-distance delivery drones and how the company successfully found a niche serving clients engaged in operations located in remote areas.

One Company's Path To BVLOS

Rob Knochenhauer is Head of UAS Regulatory & Operations at Green Sight.  Green Sight provides autonomous aerial data collection hardware and data analysis software tools t o support a wide variety of industries and applications. 

At Green Sight, Rob leads the development of the UAS operational scheme wherein unmanned aircraft are run at customer locations with a 107 certificated remote pilot on site who maintains visual line of sight with the drone while it flies. While the drone is flying, the operation is overwatched by another 107 certificated Remote Pilot in Green Sight’s Boston office. This is all part of Green Sight’s goal to eventually run unattended drone operations in the future. 

In this edition of the drone radio show, Rob talks about Green Sight, the BVLOS waiver process and what companies need to know to prepare for fully autonomous operations.

Can a Smart City Make Flying Drones Easier and Safer?

Eben Frankenberg is CEO and Co-founder of Echodyne Corp. Echodyne is a 5-year old company that makes revolutionary compact radar sensors for a range of applications for commercial, defense, and government customers. Their high-performance radars combine patented technology and powerful, intelligent software to achieve maximum radar performance. Echodyne radars are used the Autonomous Vehicle, Perimeter and Border Security, Security Integrator, Airspace Management, UAS Service Suppliers, and commercial Unmanned Aircraft Systems industries.

Eben  has over 20 years of experience starting and growing technology companies.  Prior to founding Echodyne, Eben was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Intellectual Ventures (IV) where he created and incubated new companies including: Echodyne Corp and several other leading startups.  In this edition of the drone radio show, Eben talks about how smart cities data networks could play a role in supporting unmanned air flight operations in urban environments.

Dealing With State & Local Property Rights

Brent Skorup is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.  The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is the world’s premier university source for market-oriented ideas—bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. The Center advances knowledge about how markets work to improve people’s lives by training graduate students, conducting research, and applying economics to offer solutions to society’s most pressing problems.  In addition to his role as senior research fellow, Brent is also a member of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Task Force. He has authored several articles for National Affairs, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others. He’s appeared on TV and radio for news outlets like C-SPAN, NPR, CBS News, ABC News and CNBC Asia.  He has recently co-authored an article in GovTech on drones and local and state property rights and he also released an report card on which states are prepared for the drone industry.  In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Brent talks about these publications, how local and state property rights laws could affect where drones fly and why these units of government should become more involved in the air management discussion to better prepare themselves for the future.

Brian Streem is CEO and Founder of Vermeer, a technology company that is developing an augmented reality drone solution that enables anyone to easily capture aerial photos, videos and data. Users can design their aerial shots on their smartphones and then send it to a drone to execute autonomously in the real world. Vermeer’s solution is designed for people who want to create high-end drone photos and videos, but don’t own a drone and don’t want to buy one.  In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Brian talks about Vermeer, its augmented reality drone solution and how people can get the exact video or image they are seeking without ever having to fly a drone.

Have you ever wondered how the New York City Drone Film Festival got started?

Well today’s guest gives us the inside scoop.  Randy Scott Slavin is an award-winning director, photographer and aerial cinematographer and is the founder of the New York City Drone Film Festival.  He is a drone expert who is regularly featured on television and in publications around the world. As a director, he is known for his use of cutting edge camera technology to further the impact of storytelling.

Randy first gained attention for racking up millions of television views and YouTube hits for brands including American Express, AT&T, Bank of America, AdWeek, Tribeca Film Festival, Sunoco, Island/Def Jam Records for which he has received multiple awards.  As a surrealist photographer, his work can regularly be found in the pages of Time Magazine, Gizmodo, Mashable, The Washington Post, Fast Company Design and other publications around the world.

In 2014 Randy founded the New York City Drone Film Festival, the world's first event exclusively dedicated to celebrating the art of drone cinematography. It has experienced rapid growth since its inception, counting companies like SAMSUNG, RED, GE, NBC News, Adobe and DJI as headline sponsors.  The NYCDFF includes a dynamic slate of interactive panels and a "Day of Drones" hosted at the New York City Drone Film Festival and hosts thousands of attendees over festival weekend and hundreds of millions of media impressions worldwide. In early 2020, the New York City Drone Film Festival was acquired by AirVuz.com, the premier website for drone video content.  In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Randy talks about the evolution of the New York City Drone Film Festival, what makes an award winning drone film and he gives us some insights into the role of drones in film making.

An Update From NASA

Today, we head to the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California to speak with Parimal Kopardekar and Misty Davies. The Ames Research Center is one of ten NASA field centers.  Since 1939, Ames has led NASA in conducting world-class research and development in aeronautics, exploration technology and science aligned with the center's core capabilities.  Ames Research Center supports virtually every major NASA mission and initiative through its expertise in aerosciences, air traffic management, advanced computing and IT systems and many other capabilities.  Dr.

Dr. Parimal Kopardekar, or PK for short,  serves as the Director of NASA Aeronautics Research Institute.  In that capacity, he is responsible for exploring new trends and needs related to aviation in the areas of autonomy, aeronautics manufacturing, and advanced air mobility. Dr. Misty Davies is Deputy Project Manager for NASA’s System-Wide Safety Project. Her work is focused on predicting the behavior of complex, engineered systems early in design as a way to improve these systems' safety, reliability, performance, and cost.

In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, PK and Misty give us an update on the work NASA is doing to support unmanned aerial systems, they talk about the challenges of developing autonomous systems and they provide some insights into NASA’s Grand Challenge for Urban Air Mobility.

How Will We Manage Autonomous UAV Fleets?

Nitin Gupta is the Founder and CEO of FlytBase, a Silicon Valley startup that offers an enterprise drone automation platform to power large scale deployments of intelligent autonomous UAV fleets. The hardware-agnostic IoT platform features intelligent plugins at the edge, cloud-based real-time fleet management, and APIs for seamless integration with business workflows. FlytBase is working with a large number of enterprise customers spread across US and Europe, helping them deploy fully automated drone applications for public-safety/security, warehouses, and inspections.

Nitin has over 15 years of experience in the automation and aerial robotics industry. Before founding FlytBase, he worked with multiple startups and with Samsung electronics. He has extensive background in aerospace control systems, robotics and automation. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Nitin talks about FlytBase, the challenges of building a system to manage autonomous fleets and he shares his thoughts on the future of the drone industry.

Are RF Detection Systems Effective In Stopping Drones?

Linda Ziemba is founder and CEO of AeroDefense, a New Jersey-based company that provides a proven drone detection solution for locating a drone and pilot simultaneously. The technology is named AirWarden™, and it uses passive radio frequency detection methods to detect and locate known and unknown drones without demodulating or decoding signals. The Department of Homeland Security recently recognized AirWarden with a Developmental Testing and Evaluation SAFETY Act Designation. The designation provides AirWarden users, who choose to take advantage, full immunity from liability claims alleging technology failure in the event of a terror attack. AirWarden is the first and only drone detection solution to be on the DHS SAFETY Act “approved technologies” list.  AirWarden is currently deployed at MetLife Stadium and correctional facilities in Georgia and Massachusetts.

Linda’s experience spans internet security, telecommunications and entrepreneurship, at companies including Websense, Secure Computing, Finjan, AT&T and Lucent Technologies. Prior to founding AeroDefense in 2015, she served as a key executive for LiveLOOK, a collaboration software company. Linda’s leadership across sales, marketing, and general operations resulted in numerous contracts with global financial services, telecommunications and computer firms, and ultimately acquisition by Oracle in 2014.

In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Linda talks about the company's proven AirWarden technology, how AeroDefense pivoted to stay within Federal regulations for Counter UAS and the challenges and opportunities of creating a Counter UAS company.

What's In The Cards For The Drone Industry in 2020?

Christopher Korody is a 45 year marketing veteran with deep experience in the technology, aerospace and automotive sectors. He launched DroneBusiness.center to provide UAS companies with the research, strategy and communication programs necessary to stand out in this fast growing marketplace. Dedicated to ‘connecting the dots,’ he edits an ocassional weekly newsletter, Dronin’ On, which is read by senior managers around the world. His deep knowledge of policy makes Korody a popular choice to participate on industry advisory boards and to moderate industry events. In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Chris talks about the drone industry in 2019, the outlook for 2020 and he shares his thoughts on a variety of drone related issues that are key to moving it forward. 

What’s the outlook for the drone industry?

That’s the question we explore in a 4-part series of podcasts with industry analysts, writers and editors.  In this series, I interview guests with diverse opinions and perspectives on the industry.  They’ll provide a range of insights on are some of the industry’s current topics and trends.  By the end of the series, you should have a good sense of where industry is going and how you can position yourself to take advantage.

In this podcast, we’ll hear from Patrick Egan, editor of the Americas Desk at sUAS News and host and Executive Producer of the sUAS News Podcast Series, Drone TV and the Small Unmanned Systems Business Exposition. Patrick also serves as the Director of Special Programs for the Remote Control Aerial Photography Association. Patrick has spent the last 15 years working as a proponent for the business use of unmanned aircraft systems.

If you’ve ever read some of Patrick’s news articles or posts on Twitter, where he goes by The Drone Dealer, you’ll soon find that he some strong opinions.  In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Patrick talks about the drone industry in 2019, the outlook for 2020 and he shares his thoughts on what’s holding the industry back and what could be done to move it forward.  

How can high school in middle school students prepare for a future in the drone industry?

Matthew Johnson is CEO of the Drone Training Zone and M3 Drone Productions. Matthew founded M3 Aerial Productions in 2015 as an aerial data and diagnostics company using unmanned aerial vehicles. As the company evolved, Matthew began offering training courses which grew to become a major focus of the company, so much so that he created two separate entities to deliver aerial data and drone pilot training.

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Matthew taught high school mathematics in Manitoba for five years. He used drones to instruct students on the principles of trigonometry. Matthew developed a trainee course for teachers to give them an understanding of the business opportunities in the drone industry so they could transfer that knowledge to middle and high school students.

n this edition of the drone radio show, Matthew talks about the Drones in the Classroom program and how students can prepare themselves for exciting opportunities in the drone industry.

How are the Drone Responders advancing the public safety use of drones?

Charles Werner is Director of the DroneResponders, a non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate preparedness, response and resilience using unmanned aircraft systems operated by public safety organizations around the world.  Charles Werner is the retired Charlottesville Virginia fire chief, a 44 year veteran of public safety and a FAA certified Part 107 remote pilot. He organized and is the Chair of the National Council on Public Safety UAS. He also serves on several local, state and national  committees and has authored more than 120 published articles on public safety.  In 2018, he was selected as Homeland Security Person of the Year by Homeland Security Today Magazine for his work on public safety UAS.  In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Charles gives us an update on the Drone Responders and what to look forward to in the months ahead if you’re interested in advancing the public safety use of drones.

Can drones be used for social good?

Tiamyou Radji is Director of KRANTH Senegal Flying Labs, a Social Enterprise that develops concepts of collecting, sharing and using drone data to stimulate change.  KRANTH is part of the WeRebotics global network of local knowledge hubs in emerging economies.  The goal of Flying Labs is to localize the safe, responsible and meaningful use of robotics to accelerate social good solutions. Flying labs build local ecosytems and markets, creating new jobs through the use of robotics and associated data products.

Tiamiyou has worked and consulted for a variety of social good organizations, including the UN. His experience spans business development, technology resource planning, technology risk management. Feasibility studies and consulting with international donors and agencies. Tiam led and implemented numerous information and communication technology research and projects in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.  He is a certified professional UAV pilot and has extensive experience in network security and satellite communication.

In this edition of the drone radio show, Tiam talks about the use of drones in West Africa to provide social good and create sustainable economic development for communities.

Can we really stop drones?

Ken Geyer is CEO and Co-founder of Liteye Systems, a world leader and technology solutions provider and integrator for the military and commercial markets. After a successful career as a stock broker in the late 80’s, Ken realized his true interest resided in developing new companies. He successfully launched eight companies primarily focused on cutting-edge technologies and bringing useful and effective products to market.

For the last 19+ years with Liteye, Ken and his business partner, Chief Technology Officer Tom Scott, built a strong and profitable core business with military and commercial customers. They have strategically aligned with key partners, and they continually bring new and cutting-edge solutions to market. Liteye has over $60 million in Counter Unmanned Defense systems deployed with the US Air Force and US Army in 6 different countries. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Ken talks about Liteye Systems, the effectiveness of counter drone solutions and the need to focus attention on the regulatory environment to protect airports and other critical assets.