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.

How can we become better innovators in the drone industry?

For that question, we turn to Desiree Matel-Anderson, Chief Wrangler of Field Innovation Team and CEO of the Global Disaster Innovation Group.  Desi is the first and former Chief Innovation Advisor at FEMA and Think Tank Strategic Vision Coordinator. During her tenure at FEMA, she led the first innovation team down to Hurricane Sandy to provide real-time problem solving in disaster response and recovery and ran think tanks nation-wide to cultivate innovation in communities. Her emergency management experience began when she volunteered in Northern Illinois University’s Office of Emergency Planning. She then worked with the Southeast Wisconsin Urban Area Security Initiative, and the City of Milwaukee Homeland Security and Emergency Management Office. In addition to her regional emergency management duties, she worked as an assessor of the Emergency Management Accreditation Program Assessor nation-wide.  She has since worked on numerous emergency management projects with agencies, communities, organizations and companies. 

In this episode of the Drone Radio show, Desi talks about the Field Innovation Team and Global Disaster Innovation Group, how drones are used to solve challenging problems in real time situations, her new book, called Future Survivor, and how we can become better at creating innovative response to our communities challenges. 

What Role Can Autonomous Drones Play in Major Cities?

Ran Krauss is CEO and Co-Founder of Airobotics, a global leader in fully automated industrial drones. The company has developed a pilotless drone solution, the first of its kind in the global market. Its industrial grade platform is available on-site and on-demand, enabling industrial facilities to access premium aerial data in a faster, safer, more efficient way.  In May, the company received the world’s first approval to fly over a major metropolis. The Home Team Science and Technology Agency of Singapore will use Airobotic’s cutting edge drone technology to augment Singapore’s Police Force by providing real-time aerial data delivered by automated drone technology.

Ran is a leader and an influencer in the drone industry, working at the intersection of robotics, practical aviation and drone flight. He is the first licensed commercial UAV pilot in Israel, having assisted the Civil Aviation Authority in Israel to establish regulation for commercial UAV operation. Ran previously co-founded two successful drone companies: ParaZero, which builds ballistic parachutes for drones, and Bladeworx, the first company to receive a commercial UAS operator license from the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority.  In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Ran talks about Airobotics, the opportunity that autonomous drone solutions deliver and the challenges of providing such solutions in urban environments.

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.