News Flash

Business Development - News

Posted on: October 4, 2019

Ogden City’s UAS Summit takes off at Ogden Airport

20190927_101856

The 2nd Annual Utah UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Summit took place Sept. 27 at the Kemp Gateway Center. Attendees included industry experts from UAS and aerospace companies, local and state governments, emergency services, investment firms, and higher education institutions.

Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell, Utah State Senator Gregg Buxton, and Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne provided the opening remarks and introductions.

Michael Huerta, a former administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – and the keynote speaker for the event – then spoke about his experience with unmanned aircraft during his tenure at the FAA. He was careful to note, as he’d not been part of the FAA since January 2018, his comments should not be misconstrued as current or forthcoming agency policy.

20190927_100344

(From left to right: Rich Gatanis (FLYMOTION), Gregg Buxton (Utah State Senator, Ogden City), Mike Caldwell (Mayor, Ogden City), Michael Huerta (Former Administrator, FAA), Shawn Milne (Commissioner, Tooele County)

Huerta talked at length about the hurdles in his initial onboarding, his initial confirmation in 2013, and the daunting prospect of the scope of regulatory framework the FAA had in front of it. Specifically, he talked about the development of “Part 107,” which was part of the FAA’s initial regulatory efforts.

“We wanted to accomplish two things. First, we wanted to establish the base regulatory framework – something that could be expanded and adapted over time as the industry continues to develop,” Huerta said. “Second, we wanted to create a permissive framework for a number of activities, fully recognizing that it would be a limited set of activities, but with a plan to expand the range of permitted activities over time as we gathered more operational data.”

20190927_105324

Following Huerta’s remarks, additional panels and discussions took place featuring current UAS programs and projects, Utah’s UAS and aerospace cluster, and a forecast of the upcoming demand for UAS technology.

In the afternoon, attendees split into breakout sessions led by industry experts; topics included, “Drones in the Classroom,” “UAS Research,” and “Setting Up a Corporate UAS Program.” These sessions were designed to be informal in nature, allowing participants to speak collaboratively in an open forum about a multifaceted and ever-growing industry.

After the breakouts concluded, attendees moved down to the hangar, where exhibitors had tables and booths prepared to discuss their involvement in the UAS industry. FLYMOTION, a UAS company based in Tampa, FL, performed a demonstration of their HazMat drone.

Rich Gatanis, the UAS Operations manager for FLYMOTION, was one of two representatives from the company performing the demonstration.

“FLYMOTION’s UAS HazMat is a turnkey solution allowing first responders the ability to rapidly deploy critical detectors of flammable gas, radiation, and other chemicals down rang into the ‘hot zone’ of a hazmat incident,” Gatanis said. “This allows the decision makers the ability to gather critical information without having to subject personnel to those dangerous atmospheres.”

20190927_170438

Additional demonstrations were provided by Electrafly, Box Elder County Emergency Management, Aerobotics, Fortem Technologies, SenseFly, ROAV Copters, and USU’s AggieAir program.

For a full list of speakers and exhibitors, download the program here.

Facebook Twitter Email

Other News in Business Development - News

Dumke Art Plaza Pic

MOMENTUM YOU CAN FEEL

Posted on: February 3, 2022
Engine

Williams International to expand in Ogden

Posted on: September 10, 2020
Annotation 2020-09-03 162409

Home Reserve finds a home in Ogden

Posted on: September 3, 2020
ogden_arch_2_visitogden

Ogden City Emergency Loan Fund (ELF)

Posted on: April 30, 2020
Coronavirus

Business Resources for COVID-19

Posted on: April 30, 2020
IMG_8596

Community baked into every bite at Sapori

Posted on: February 14, 2020
Accolades_Ogden Best Of

Accolades and Recognition for Ogden City

Posted on: November 19, 2019
For MAKE Ogden Section - Logo

What is MAKE Ogden?

Posted on: October 25, 2019
Taboo Pizza

Taboo Pizza Opens For Business

Posted on: March 13, 2019
BIC Loans Assistant Jenny Villicana with Patzus owner Patricia Valiterra and Guillermo Rojas-Rodrigu

Patzus Brings Sonoran Hot Dogs To Ogden

Posted on: February 28, 2019