InterDrone Podcast

Gail Orenstein has been a photographer for 23 years. She lives in London and is a member of The NUJ and The International Press Association. She has travelled often on her own to 84 countries and started her journey documenting prisoners in Guatemala.

In recent years Gail has added UAVs to her kit while covering conflict zones, natural disasters. She is bringing this new lens on the world to the people most affected by the fallout.

Gail is an FAA and CAA licensed drone operator and her knowledge of regulation is a critical asset when traveling. The work of a photojournalist is not for the weak of heart, but more valuable than ever. Find out just what it takes in this edition of the InterDrone Podcast.

Ever the technologist, tinkerer and entrepreneur, Christopher Eyhorn parlayed his aviation experience into the world of drone technology. As co-founder of DroneSense, he seeks to continually innovate and build first class software in the rapidly evolving space.

DroneSense has exploded in the public safety space by providing a soup-to-nuts platform for agencies to manage their drone program. Whether you are trying to manage accountability and data among stakeholders or assessing a scene, DroneSense's Airbase, Pilot, and Ops Center have you covered making sure your drone pipeline is secure and getting the right data to the right people when they need it.

Have a listen to gain insights into how law enforcement and emergency services are utilizing drones out in the field.

If you've ever dreamed of a future with drones delivering packages and running inspections in perfect harmony with civilian air traffic, NASA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) project is laying the groundwork for such a world through independent research and collaboration with private industry.

Joseph Rios serves as the Chief Engineer for NASA’s UTM, project. He has been with NASA since 2007 and primarily focuses on computational and data issues related to the National Airspace System. He has worked on large-scale optimization models for traffic flow management, data exchange schemas for air traffic, and tools for general aviation pilots flying in remote locations. NASA has awarded Dr. Rios medals for Early Career Achievement and Exceptional Achievement, the latter of which is related to his work on UTM.

NASA is here to help. You can find out more about their research in the drone space with these helpful links:

General UTM Info

https://utm.arc.nasa.gov/index.shtml

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Page (scroll down a bit for the UTM part)

https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/programs/aosp/utm

Recent UTM News

https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/programs/aosp/utm-project-description

Almost everyone in the industry has heard of Women and Drones. Under the direction of its CEO, Sharon Rossmark, the organization has created a platform for connecting, elevating, and educating women of all ages in the drone industry.

The organization’s educational theme centers on “learning through the wonders of flying robots.™” The focus is on collaborating with community and educational programs to incorporate drones into STEM programming for youth with an emphasis on engaging girls.

Sharon is an international speaker, panelist and facilitator on the topics of drones, board governance and executive mentoring. She has taken the stage to share her passion for drones from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC to the World of Drones Congress in Brisbane, Australia.

Sharon has been a long time friend of InterDrone and currently sits on our advisory board. Every woman or man in the drone industry could learn a lot from Sharon's experience, and there's plenty of it in this episode.

We invited the Former Administrator of the FAA, Michael P. Huerta, on the podcast to take a deep dive into the current FAA Reauthorization Act that just passed. The new legislation eliminates Section 336, colloquially known as the hobbyist exception, gives new powers to law enforcement, and sets the industry on a path towards a remote identification standard.

Michael lends his perspective on the act and helps clarify what each of the provisions mean for operators and businesses engaging in the market. Michael is optimistic about the future of the small-UAS space. Listen to find out why.

Every year, Skylogic Research’s annual Drone Market Sector Report acts as a reality check for the hype merchants and chronic optimists with its accurate bottom-up assessment of the state of the industry. InterDrone spoke with Skylogic's CEO and Founder, Colin Snow for a peek into the report's findings and what has and hasn't changed since 2017.

The UAS space is maturing, but still finding its ground as fleet sizes remain small and most enterprise adoption is only just getting started. Three quarters of businesses and public agencies report drone programs as young as two years old. That being said, professional use of drones is growing. Find out about the current landscape of the drone space by listening to the episode and downloading the report for yourself.

Find the report here: http://droneanalyst.com/research/research-studies/2018-drone-market-sector-report-purchase

It's now more commonplace to hear about the power of AI algorithms for interpreting drone data, but Unleash Live takes it to another level, providing real-time data insights to UAS operators on top of a live stream. The practical application of Unleash's product for emergency services is clear, aiding users to determine points of interest in an tense environment filled with distractions and noise.

In this episode I was able to get a hold of both Hanno Blankenstein, Founder and CEO, and James Kwong, Head of Product and Experience at Unleash Live and talk about the power of real-time data. We talked about their startup journey from idea to assisting professionals disaster relief and beyond. Both Hanno and James always like to look at the big picture, contemplating the role of machine learning, and more generally AI, as tools to enhance human ability. The results of that thinking becomes obvious when you see Unleash Live in action.

In the world of computing, the open source philosophy has been a powerful bedrock for the development of thousands of technologies in highly competitive industries. Lorenz Meier brings that core philosophy to every project he contributes to within the UAV space.

Lorenz is the co-founder of Auterion, a software firm that builds custom enterprise solutions on top of open source codebases and provides last mile support for organizations looking to integrate that code safely into their products. Auterion is the largest contributor to the PX4 project and Lorenz is a board member and community director at Dronecode, the organization that defines the open source standards for the UAV industry.

Michael Chasen just joined PrecisionHawk in January 2017 and he has already led the company through a series of strategic acquisitions, the most recent of which includes Hazon LLC and InspecTools Inc. Both companies have deep ties to the energy sector and the specialized expertise increasingly in demand from enterprise clients. Michael sees the acquisitions as only one step in a move to provide solutions custom tailored to the vertical markets.

Following his keynote at InterDrone, Acting Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Dan Elwell took some extra time to share the FAA's perspectives and stances on the evolving commercial drone market. Under his direction the FAA is "Open for Business," but in no way reducing its commitment to safety and upholding the standards the organization is know for.

The Acting Administrator’s keynote and any other speaking engagements by FAA or government employees should not be construed as endorsements of InterDrone over other brands in the UAV community. Information about the FAA’s regulations and industry updates are publicly available all year round and can be found at https://www.faa.gov/