Drone Insights & Technology

Overview:
As the CEO of Indigenous Aerospace, Jacob Taylor's drive comes from his relentless pursuit to ensure indigenous people benefit from drone technology by providing education, equipment, and training that creates business opportunities and revenue from UAV services within local Indigenous communities.

In this episode, Jacob discusses the many different ways drone technology can improve the quality of life within indigenous communities, which are located throughout the remote and sparsely populated regions of Canada.

This includes supporting nature and land management, mapping traditional territories to document current and historical land use, and solving logistical challenges (including delivery of critical supplies such as food and medicine).

Today’s Guest:
Jacob Taylor of the Curve Lake First Nation - Otter Clan is the CEO of Indigenous Aerospace, a company whose vision is to provide education and support for First Nation people using drone technology in their local territories to improve their local quality of life. As a student at Western University, Jacob studied Aboriginal Health Policy as an undergraduate and continued on to receive his graduate degree in First Nation Policy Leadership. In 2021, Jacob received Western's Faculty of Health Sciences Young Alumni Award. 

Jacob is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of North Dakota's Medicine and Health Science division, studying the impact of drones on Indigenous health.

Overview
Johnathan Smeh has had quite the journey throughout his nine years in the commercial drone industry, but drones weren't initially on the radar when he was pursuing a career in geography, GIS, and manned aircraft. 

n this interview, Johnathan talks through first discovering the drone industry, its evolving technology, and how it's shaped both his current work and what he hopes to work on in the future (hint: it's out of this world!). He also discusses unique piloting stories from the field that required both creativity and ingenuity to ensure mission success.

Today’s Guest

Johnathan Smeh is a Certified Photogrammetrist and GIS Specialist at Volatus Aerospace and a Certified Photogrammetrist with the Canadian Institute of Geomatics. Since starting in the commercial drone industry in 2013, Johnthan has built and sold two companies, High Eye Aerial Imaging, and Canadian UAV Solution, and has hundreds of flight hours on both Multirotor and Fixed Wing Aircraft. A skilled drone pilot, he is an expert at performing all aspects of UAV service, including pricing, flight planning, data collection, and processing.

Maude Pelletier was a geomorphologist working in the Yukon territories studying permafrost, generating precise high-resolution aerial images using photogrammetry to get elevation models and more. She tells the story of encountering the first lidar payloads for drones, and realizing how it could make a significant impact to her work. This led to founding a company that created new innovations in drone lidar technology. 

In this interview, Maude  describes elements of lidar technology, compares and contrasts lidar with photogrammetry, discusses strategies for creating point clouds, and explores typical use cases.

In 2017, Kirk Floyd combined his RC helicopter skills and a passion for horticulture and arboriculture to create a business within the emerging commercial drone market. In addition to those industries, he also has extensive drone operator experience in movies, media, commercials and as an inspection pilot. Additionally, he is currently working on drone research with the University of Maryland.

In this interview, Kirk shares some great stories from the field, and how he used his ingenuity for on-location problem solving during drone missions to ensure their success.

David Heath turned a background in aviation into a career that connects the drone industry with public policy. As a founding member of the PA Drone Association, he regularly advocates for policies, regulations, and new initiatives to enable the drone industry to not only grow, but to benefit the public good.

In addition to providing the drone community with access to government programs, he also helps legislators better understand the dynamics and nature of the drone business. He's also worked with state and local governments to create more opportunities in the industry, as well as helping them to start a Drone Center of Excellence.

GIS Scientist and Level 3 Thermographer Jason San Souci takes us on an in-depth exploration of both the art and science of thermography. He walks through the three levels, and uses some great examples of how to combine measurements with experience to get the best outcomes.

He also shares some great stories about his time in an Afghanistan combat zone, chimpanzee habitat mapping with Jane Goodall, neurodiversity in the drone industry, the potential positive impact of BVLOS, and much more.

Danielle Gagne talks about her new role as Chief Storyteller at Volatus Aerospace. She will be focusing on distilling drone industry developments and technical information into content that is understandable and usable by all.

Danielle leverages her experience working at Commercial UAV News to connect with key players in the drone industry, determine where value is being created, and identify trends for the future.

An entrepreneur and aviation enthusiast, Sharon founded Women and Drones, which is dedicated to driving excellence in the UAS/AAM industry. She shares how the organization empowers women to connect, collaborate and make global business connections.

Sharon also discusses their new alliance, the “ConnexiCore Mentor Program – in Collaboration with Women and Drones”. The goal is to develop the business, technical and operational skill sets of newly-trained female drone pilots across North America.

Dawn Zoldi of P3 Tech Consulting explains her journey from JAG lawyer for the U.S. Air Force to creating policies on domestic use of military drones in the U.S. national airspace. After winning the Woman to Watch and UAS Global award, she was inspired to create her company, P3 Tech Consulting. Dawn discusses that her primary focus is on education and advocacy about the drone industry, and offers insight on how today’s trends are impacting business.

Our guest is Tanner Harris, President of Blue Nose Aerial Imaging, a Navy veteran and former airline pilot who not only started his own drone services business, but is committed to creating opportunities for others to start and run their own successful drone businesses, especially veterans. Tanner walks through how he helps people set up their business, streamline their operations, and create a customer base. He also stresses the value of networking, both for business development, and also within the drone industry to stay current on the latest trends and products.