Drone Industry Advisory Council

David Krause

Co-Owner, Influential Drones

Dave Krause, is one of the co-founders of Influential Drones. He is a certified project manager, world traveler and an accomplished software architect with more than a dozen industry certifications. Having over 20-yrs of specialized technology experience, Dave is qualified to lead projects in the following sectors: transportation, commerce/banking, infrastructure and construction. He is a member of the FAASTeam (FAA Safety Team) where he travels the country educating and promoting aviation safety. Dave sits on the NBAA's Emerging Technologies Committee. The committee maintains a focus on: unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), urban air mobility (UAM), unmanned traffic management (UTM), commercial space, other future technologies and associated infrastructure that will integrate into the National Airspace System (NAS). Dave contributes to the FAA's Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) as a member of TaskGroup 8 (Safety Culture) for Small Commercial.

He is a founding member of Aviation Influence, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes aviation and STEM initiatives globally. When not working, adventurous, creative, enjoys reading and loves to learn. Dave is active in the philanthropic space, especially in the areas of wildlife conservation and aviation history.

Jeff Powell

CEO, American Unmanned

UAS start up leader. Over the past 4 years, I have moved the market strategy from the consumer space to the industrial and professional use markets. Building the reputation of the company as one who listens and develops products that are impactful for the markets that the company is engaged in.For the past 4 years I have been deeply involved in every aspect of the UAS business. Managing business development in LEO, First responder, DOD, and Government space. While maintaining Quarter on Quarter growth of 163% over the past 2 years.

Kimberly Penn

Founder and CEO, Professor Drones

Kimberly Penn is the President of Professor Drones and an industry recognized drone related Subject Matter Expert (SME). She consults with agencies and organizations that directly support the Oil & Gas, Public Safety, Real Estate & Construction, and the Warehouse/Manufacturing related sectors. Kimberly has provided inspection and security-related drone consulting services to organizations looking to launch or enhance existing drone programs. Kimberly Penn or the High Tech Maven also founded the first woman owned technology consulting firm (Webtropolis) in the State of Texas over 27 years ago. She has extensive HIPAA Security experience, Health Information Management (HIM), Internet of Things (IoT), and Certified Ethical Hacking (CEH) experience. Currently, she has clients in greater Houston, thirteen states, Washington-DC, Canada, Mexico, Poland, and Dubai. She has worked on technology and security-based projects with budgets in excess of $30 million+. Kimberly earned a double-bachelors from Houston Baptist University, a M.A. in Sociology from University of Houston, and a M.P.S in Technology Management from Georgetown University.

Greg Agvent

Senior Director of CNN Aerial Imagery & Reporting, CNN Worldwide

Greg Agvent is the Senior Director of the CNN Aerial Imagery & Reporting unit, CNN Air. Agvent has led CNN’s domestic unmanned aerial systems (UAS) program since CNN initiated its research efforts in 2013. As a partner in the FAA’s Pathfinder program, Agvent led CNN’s successful research effort towards safe operations of UAS over people. Agvent also leads CNN’s UAS Integrated Pilot Program partnership. He has overseen the development of all facets of CNN’s aerial operations, including training, safety management systems, operations, risk management and expansion.

Michael Carlson

Director of Business Development, Performance Drone Works

Michael Carlson is the Director of Business Development for Performance Drone Works. He joined PDW from Lockheed Martin where he led the UAS Business Development and Customer Support functions for the Lockheed Martin Procerus Technologies business.

Prior to Lockheed Martin, Mike supported the FAA UAS Integration during the pivotal years prior to Part 107, analyzing safety cases for section 333 exemptions. He also served on the review panel for the Part 107 program. For 8 years, Mike led training, logistics, and support functions for Textron Systems on various UAS contracts with the US Army PMUAS for the RQ7 Shadow and MQ1 Gray Eagle groups 3-4 unmanned aerial systems.

Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from The Pennsylvania State University. Mike also serves on the Drone Advisory Committee at CompTIA developing initiatives and providing guidance to industry and government bodies to encourage the safe growth and progression of the UAS industry.

Michael served in the United States Army with 3 different job skills; 19Delta - Cavalry Scout, 11Bravo - Infantryman, and 96Uniform - Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems Operator. As a Cavalry Scout, Mike was a fire team leader in a Stryker Brigade. As an Infantryman, Mike was a squad leader in a light infantry company. He served a 13 month deployment to Iraq in 2004-2005 and earned the Army Commendation Medal. Mike served as an instructor/standardization operator at the US Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Center at Fort Huachuca from 2006-2008 and has accumulated 5000+ flight hours on groups 1-3 UAS.

Mike lives outside of Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife, 3 dogs, and are expecting a new member of the family in March 2020. In his free time, Mike enjoys mountain biking, snowboarding, and playing Ice Hockey.

Robert Dahlstrom

Founder and CEO, Apellix

Bob is the founder and CEO of Apellix™ which provides software-driven aerial robotics platforms to paint, coat, clean and test, in situations where until now, humans have done the work at physical risk to themselves. A serial entrepreneur, Bob is passionate about designing and creating software-controlled robotic systems that keep people out of harm’s way and save lives.

Bob is an FAA certified drone Pilot, a business mentor for “Startup Quest’, “Startup Weekend by Google for Entrepreneurs”, and a volunteer at startup accelerators. He is also a former college professor at Florida State University, and a marathon runner.

Adam Gittins

General Manager, HTS Ag

Adam Gittins developed a love for agriculture at an early age while helping out on the family farm in Neola. He attended Iowa State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Business, with an area of emphasis in Farm Business Management. Working with GPS while crop scouting, Adam developed an interest in Precision Ag that led to a position with Ag Leader Technology in Ames, IA. He worked in their technical support department providing assistance with hardware and software to dealers and farmers around the world. Adam assisted with testing products and was the GPS and Guidance specialist. In the fall of 2005, Adam joined the then small Precision Ag team at HTS and relocated back near the family farm. With his in-depth technical knowledge, he hit the ground running and helped HTS grow their Precision Ag Department exponentially. In 2013, HTS was sold and the Precision Ag division became its own stand-alone company, HTS Ag, with Adam taking the helm as general manager. Adam has helped position HTS Ag in the drone industry, offering drones, training, and image stitching software for field analysis.

Michelle Hanlon

Co-Director, Center for Air and Space Law

Michelle is Co-Director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law and its Center for Air and Space Law. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Space Law, the world’s oldest law journal dedicated to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space and the Faculty Advisor for its sister publication, the Journal of Drone Law and Policy. Michelle is a Co-Founder and President of For All Moonkind, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that is the only organization in the world focused on protecting human cultural heritage in outer space. For All Moonkind is a Permanent Observer to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Michelle is also the Executive Vice President of the National Space Society, chair of its International Committee and the mentor to the newly-formed National Space Society Legal Fellows program. Michelle received her B.A. in Political Science from Yale College and her J.D. magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. She earned her LLM in Air and Space Law from McGill University. Prior to focusing on aviation and space law, Michelle was engaged in a private business law practice.

David Kovar

CEO, URSA Inc.

David Kovar has over twenty years of extensive technological experience in fields ranging from computer forensics to search and rescue to small unmanned aerial systems. He developed the practice of UAV forensics in 2015 and now runs URSA Inc., a unmanned systems risk management startup.

Prior to URSA Inc. he worked at Ernst and Young’s US Advanced Security Center (ASC) where he was a senior manager. He coordinated EY’s US incident response program and provided computer forensics, security monitoring, and malware analysis leadership, services and project management.

Mr. Kovar is currently working on a degree in international affairs with the goal of applying his extensive technology background to international public policy and humanitarian aid issues. He also continues to perform research on UAVs and other disruptive technologies and continues to assist with search and rescue as time allows.

Brian Kravets

UAS Operations Manager, SPACECO, Inc.

Brian Kravets is responsible for the coordination of UAV flights and data processing at SPACECO, Inc., a civil engineering and land surveying company. He supervises a small team of UAV pilots, and is responsible for all data processing and analysis, and built the UAV department from the ground up. He helps integrate UAV captured data into the engineering and surveying workflow. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in Cinema Art and Science, Brian brings a creative eye to his work. Brian has over 4 years and thousands of hours of UAV flying experience with several types of UAV's.

Taylor Mitcham

Found & Chief Drone Ninja, SkyNinja

Taylor Mitcham is the Founder and Chief Drone Ninja at SkyNinja, a drone service company that provides inspection and mapping services for industrial applications.  Their work has included emergency and blue sky inspections for various critical infrastructure around the US, project monitoring services for construction sites, and consulting and training services.

With over 5 years of UAS experience, her previous work also includes serving as a Project Manager for the unmanned aerial services department at an engineering firm. During this role, she managed and acted as the PIC for various LiDAR, magnetometer, inspection and photogrammetry missions; was responsible for UAS and related equipment worth over $500,000; and maintained a 100% safety record on all missions.

Prior to founding SkyNinja, Taylor was a Project Engineer and Drone Operations Manager for a $1.5B industrial construction contractor.  She started that companies first drone program from scratch while working on the Dakota Access Pipeline. To date, she accumulated over 800 flights hours and flown various UAVs ranging from 4 – 54lbs.

In addition to her work at SkyNinja, Taylor is also an advocate for her fellow part 107 pilots.  She has a YouTube channel, Dronero, where she shares videos about various drone business topics based on her experiences. She also enjoys doing in-person speaking engagements and has been invited to speak at numerous events such as the FAA’s UAS Symposium, CES, and the Autonomous Futures Summit. Additionally, Taylor was invited to the White House where she consulted the Office of Science and Technology Policy on the drone regulation and provided industry insights from an insiders prospective.

Her awards include being named a “Rising Star in Tech” by the Consumer Technology Association and was added to the “40 Under 40” list produced by the Pennsylvania Business Central Magazine in recognition for her vision, drive and determination needed to find success in business.

Currently, Taylor resides in Tampa, FL where she enjoys the (year-round) warm weather, kayaking, sailing, and traveling.

Ted Parisot

Co-Founder, Helios Visions

Ted Parisot is the Co-Founder and CMO of Helios Visions -- a Chicago-based, professional drone services company helping clients throughout the United States. Helios Visions provides aerial data collection (videos, photos, building project/site inspection, façade images, event footage) to many types of organizations including developers, façade inspection companies, event organizers, building and property managers, as well as commercial film productions. As one of the few companies with nationwide FAA waivers, including § 107.29 (daylight operation) and § 107.39 (operation over human beings), Helios Visions places paramount emphasis on safe and legal drone operations. Mr. Parisot’s 20 years of experience as a technology, digital marketing, and photography professional has led to Helios Visions becoming one of the leading drone service providers.

Sharon Rossmark

Chief Executive Officer, Women And Drones LLC

Sharon Rossmark is the CEO of Women And Drones, the premier global platform featuring women who are disrupting, innovating and shaping the future of the drone industry. She is also a FAA Certified Drone Pilot. In 2018 and 2019, the company was listed as one of the “Top 100 Companies To Watch” in the drone industry by UAV Coach. Sharon is an international speaker, panelist and facilitator on the topics of drones and board governance. 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. 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. She is the co-author of several books introducing young children to drones. Most of the characters in the books are girls which is a purposeful, important part of her commitment to engaging more girls in STEM and aviation. Sharon earned her MBA from University of Illinois – Chicago and her BS from Illinois State University

Enrico Schaefer

UAV & IP Attorney, TRAVERSE LEGAL, PLC

Mr. Schaefer is a seasoned trial attorney practicing internet, social media, domain and trademark law on a global basis. Mr. Schaefer has first chair trial experience in a wide variety of litigation matters, including class action litigation, internet and domain law, cybersquatting actions, intellectual property, non-competes, commercial and fiduciary litigation, UDRP and IP licensing. He has represented some of the largest companies in the world in litigation, domain name, trademark and related matters. He is a frequent author and presenter on issues related to protecting business interests in a global internet economy. Mr. Schaefer represents companies and business interests from around the world.

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Douglas Spotted Eagle

Instructor/Examiner UAV, Sundance Media Group, Inc.

Douglas is a primary instructor and industry consultant for Sundance Media Group, Inc. and VASST, authoring several books and DVDs and serving as an advisor and guide for videographers, software manufacturers and broadcasters. Douglas Spotted Eagle is a giant in the video and audio industries, having received Grammy, Emmy, DuPont, Peabody, and many other awards.   Douglas is a well-known musician and a world-travelled speaker/instructor and he now focuses his energy and experience within the UAV/sUAS industry, having written six books focused on specific UAS tasks and workflows.

Skydiving since 2006 and instructing UAS since 2011, Douglas is an accomplished aerial photographer who thrives in the adrenaline-filled world of fast-action videography. Appointed as a Safety and Training Advisor at Large in the aviation world, he is a risk management/mitigation subject matter expert. With an intimate knowledge of the FAA FARs and FSIMs, Douglas’ vision is to incorporate his years of imaging and aviation experience into best-practices for everything drone/UAV/UAS. Douglas is a frequent (and dynamic!) speaker and consults on UAV cinematography, commercial and infrastructural UAV applications, UAV risk management, night UAV flight, aerial security systems, and 107 training to ensure pilots clearly understand the FAA laws.

Probyn Thompson III

President & CEO, Office Air Probe LLC

Probyn ‘Probe’ Thompson has over forty years of demonstrated experience in planning and executing operations globally for both military and private sector business operations. Probyn retired from active duty service in the US Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel after completing over twenty-three years as a fixed wing combat aviator, Squadron Commander, Military Attaché, USAF Weapon School Instructor Pilot, and Air Liaison Officer (ALO) to the US Army. Probyn deployed to Afghanistan to lead flight operations as a UAV Detachment and Mission Commander, embedded into a US Army Combat Brigade to supporting military combat operations. He then returned to work in the UAS industry for four years before founding Air Probe UAV (APUAV).

Air Probe UAV specializes in providing remote aerial services and academic instruction to assist clients in establishing a FAA Part 107 qualified UAV drone flight programs. APUAV has trained students in high school, college, to adults in Public Safety professions at the North Carolina Justice Academy.

Probyn’s formal civilian education includes: Bachelor’s from the University of Miami, Florida; Masters of Aeronautical Science (MAS) from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Grad Certificate, ‘Community Preparedness and Disaster Management’, UNC-CH; and FAA Certificates: Private/Commercial Pilot (manned) and the Remote UAS Pilot certificate