A conference on current and future applications of unmanned aerial systems in Western Canada, hosted by the Centre for Innovation and Research in Unmanned Systems (CIRUS) at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
September, 24, 2019 | SAIT Campus Centre
Consider being a sponsor or an exhibitor:
• Increase your visibility to industry, government, and the private sector
• Meet the end users who are looking for solutions
• Connect with key, international and local members in the industry
• Get involved and support the future of UAV applications
Event schedule:
Regulatory update and Q&A - Cindy Haughton - Transport Canada
Conference Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Chris Walach | Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems
Dr. Chris Walach retired from the U.S. Army in 2008 as a Senior Lieutenant Colonel, Battalion Commander and Master Aviator of an Apache Longbow Helicopter unit with two tours of duty in combat. He is a decorated combat aviator with more than 600 combat flight hours. He holds a Master of Science and Doctor of Management from the University of Maryland, University College. He has been interviewed and appeared on national and international news networks as an expert military analyst and has been interviewed or quoted by numerous global newspapers. His combat unit he commanded during the Iraq War was highlighted in the Google E-Book, Tip of the Spear (Hellfire and Brimstone) and in a 2013 DreamWorks movie. He has holds a FAA commercial helicopter pilot’s license with an instrument rating and is rated in four single and twin-engine advanced military helicopters. He is an inventor, published military writer, business management scholar presenting evidence-based research at two international academic conferences and a former small business owner.
Dr. Walach is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and currently serves as the Executive Director of the FAA-designated Nevada UAS Test Site, Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS), NUANCE Center at Reno-Stead Airport, and the NIAS Unmanned Aviation Safety Center of Excellence (NIAS-UAS COE).
Conference Speakers:
Jordan Cicoria | Aerium Analytic
Jordan Cicoria is the Vice President of Operations for AERIUM Analytics and the treasurer for Unmanned Systems Canada. Jordan started his career in the oil and gas industry before making the transition to the RPAS industry. Jordan started his career with the Lorrnel Group, a family based regulatory and environmental firm, based out of Calgary Alberta. With over 10 years of project management and operations experience specializing in geomatics, mapping, remote sensing, and environmental services Jordan brings an unconventional perspective to how unmanned and manned aviation can work together for operational harmony. In addition, Jordan and AERIUM operate in a multitude of energy and forestry operations throughout Alberta. With over 1200 operational flights at airports in Canada, the US and Europe, Jordan and AERIUM are proving how RPAS can be used to safely and efficiently collect and most importantly analyze data to solve the problems industry is experiencing today.
Bob Davies | SAIT
Bob Davies is a senior researcher in the Applied Research and Innovation Department at SAIT and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta in 1999. He has been involved in various subjects in unmanned systems research since 2008. He is currently working on projects where drones and advanced data acquisition systems are employed in environmental studies.
Davy Dilant | SwissDrones
Davy is leading the training program and the Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) assessment for the operating side of SDO. His portfolio includes general aircraft flying with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commercial, instrument, multi-engine ratings as well as flight instructor and aircraft maintenance with an FAA airframe & power-plant certificate. Passionate about flying machines, he also loves to understand the insides-out of UAVs. He also shared his dedication to aviation safety and regulations in his previous job at Jet Aviation as an engine and APU mechanic. Davy graduated from the Aeronautical University of Embry-Riddle with a Bachelor in Aviation Maintenance Management.
Doug Hanna | Foremost Test Range
Doug Hanna has more than 28 years of experience in unmanned ground & unmanned air systems as a researcher, project manager, and program manager. At Defence R&D Canada in Suffield, AB, Mr. Hanna and his research team focused on next generation unmanned ground and close-air systems for military and public security operations until his retirement in 2012. In 2013, he began consulting with UAS companies to assist in meeting Transport Canada requirements for safe operations. From early 2015 until the present time, he has been the General Manager of the Foremost UAS Test Range – Class F restricted airspace for Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) R&D and T&E.
Cindy Haughton | Transport Canada
Cindy Haughton has been a Flight Operations Inspector with Transport Canada for 18 years, the last 10 have been in UAV/RPAS operations and is she now with the RPAS Center of Expertise out of Dorval QC. Prior to Transport Canada, Cindy worked in industry as a Class 1 Instructor, Pilot Examiner, and as a line-pilot in CAR’s part 702, 703, 704, and 705 operations. She ended her industry career with Canadian Regional Airlines during the Air Canada merger in 2000. Cindy is still flying and pilots the Transport Canada Citation 550. She holds an Advanced RPAS Pilot Certificate with flight reviewer qualifications.
Wade Hawkins | SAIT
Kristin Kozuback | Indro Robotics
Kristin Kozuback (MEd, CSP) started Spiritlink Communication in 1999 and has worked with 550+ entrepreneurs and trained in 35 Indigenous communities. After recognizing the social, economic and environmental benefits drones and remotely piloted vehicles can provide, she entered ’the drone world’ in 2015 by co-founding an Alberta-based drone software company. She was nominated to the Board of Unmanned Systems Canada in 2017 and pushes for diversity in our sector through Women in Drones and STEM initiatives. In 2018, Kristin joined the innovative team of engineers and PhD's, trainers, operators and industry experts at InDro Robotics. Recognized by Transport Canada as the first ‘Fully-Compliant UAS Operator’ and one of only four companies approved for the BVLOS Testbed Project, InDro Robotics is known for their work advancing First Responder adoption of UAV’s, their BVLOS expertise and their collaborative approach to finding solutions.
Shahab Moeini | SAIT
Shahab Moeini has over 25 years of experience in leading complex engineering, research and development and unmanned autonomous systems projects with various national and international stakeholders. Shahab holds an engineering and geospatial science degree and he is completing a doctorate degree with a focus on application of the Unmanned Systems and Artificial Intelligence in disaster management with the University of Liverpool in the UK.
Shahab started his professional career as an engineer leading emergency construction projects after natural disasters or conflicts. He then worked for 10 years as project manager on hydroelectric and water infrastructure projects before moving on to international relief agencies as a water habitat engineer and project manager. He managed construction of urban infrastructure and emergency response projects in conflict and post-conflict zones throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and continued to study advanced programming, geospatial science, and unmanned systems design and development.
Currently Shahab works as Operations Manager and Senior Lead Researcher at SAIT. Shahab is a UAV flight instructor and chief pilot for industrial and long-range UAVs above 25 kg. His research focus is on design and development for aerial, ground and underwater autonomous AI based systems for civil, industrial and humanitarian purposes. Shahab also works on “big-data” processing and cognitive computing and machine learning for several of UAV based projects.
With over 30 publications and presentations at international conferences, Shahab has served as reviewer, and also chaired several sessions at academic conferences and workshops.
Lukas is an accomplished engineer and serial entrepreneur. His expertise in managing and optimizing manufacturing processes and passion for innovation turned SwissDrones Operating into one of the leading drone companies in its class. He also held a position as Lean Manager in a medical device company after a decade of technical project management. Lukas holds a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (ETH Zurich) with a focus on Manufacturing Science and Business. He is fluent in four languages.
Azzeddine Oudjehane | SAIT
Dr. Azzeddine Oudjehane has over 30 years of experience leading multi-disciplinary projects in R&D, business innovation and market development working with various stakeholders from academia, government and industry. Azzeddine holds graduate degrees in both Applied Science and Business Administration. In 2012, Azzeddine joined the first undergraduate BSc in Construction Project Management in Canada at SAIT. Azzeddine strives through teaching excellence to train the next generation of construction project managers in Alberta and Canada, while developing scholarly applied research that meets the needs of the Alberta industries. With over 100 publications and presentations at international conferences, Dr. Oudjehane serves in various journal review committees and has chaired sessions at conferences. In the past year, he gave several presentations and keynotes on the role of innovation for sustainable construction practices. Azzeddine currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Leadership Board for the AB Chapter of CaGBC. He is also the treasurer and secretary of the Board of Directors for Value Analysis Canada. Azzeddine is currently leading several applied research projects demonstrating the feasibility and value of sustainable and innovation practices in construction.These include sustainable mass timber design and construction as well as innovation integrating artificial intelligence and unmanned systems in construction project management.
Alan Rezazadeh | SAIT
Andrew Sedor | City of Calgary
As the Business Development Coordinator in Transportation at The City of Calgary, Andrew’s portfolio includes evaluating how new technologies could influence transportation in Calgary. Andrew led Canada’s first public-facing autonomous vehicle pilot, authored Calgary’s Future of Transportation Report, as well as launched The City of Calgary’s Living Lab program. Leading the Living Lab program, Andrew works with companies, researchers and individuals, to leverage city infrastructure to test and trial their products in real-life environments – with the goal of fostering economic growth and diversity. One of the Living Labs projects has been allowing academic institutions and companies to operate UAVs on the city’s undeveloped industrial land. Prior to this role, Andrew spent three years as the Senior Advisor to the General Manager of Transportation at the City of Calgary. He holds a Master’s degree in Land Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Sean Greenwood | Canadian UAVs
Sean Greenwood is President of Canadian UAVs a leading UAV service provider for commercial and military applications. In 2018 Canadian UAVs was the first Company to fly Beyond Visual Line of Sight outside of restricted airspace. The project was in collaboration with several multinational oil and gas upstream companies to resolve the issue of flying drone longer distances safely for environmental integrity inspections.
Denean Tomlin is responsible for leading the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) strategy, acts as the primary ITB customer interface, and supports the successful fulfillment of Peraton Canada’s ITB obligation. She is responsible for managing the reporting for Industrial and Regional Benefits (IRB) obligations on existing defence and security sector projects and for leading the development of the company's Canadian Value Proposition (CVP) and Industrial & Technological Benefits (ITBs) program, strategies and commitments. Denean is also a member of the company's Business Development Capture teams, leading the VP/ITB related proposal development activities. She is an export from British Columbia and has made Calgary home since 1989. Her career spans three decades in the areas of business development, government relations, strategic planning and marketing & communications. Prior to joining Peraton, Denean spent the last 10 years supporting the aerospace and defence industries in her most recent role as President of the Western Canadian Defence Industries Association.
Arangan Varatharajah | SwissDrones
Arangan has extensive background in aviation industry as commercial pilot, trainer, and project manager. Arangan is responsible for sales and coordinates the training programs at SwissDrones. He is extremely experienced in UAV flight operations and mission planning. Arangan enjoys connecting with people and demonstrating what the SwissDrone SD0 50 V2 can do.
Ken Whitehead | SAIT
Dr. Ken Whitehead is a UAV mapping and applications specialist and a research associate at SAIT, in the department of Applied Research and Innovation Services. Formerly as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Calgary, Ken studied the potential uses of UAVs for environmental monitoring. While completing his PhD, Ken worked with the pioneering UAV survey company, Accuas, where he was responsible for coordinating research into UAV data processing and developing UAV applications. During his PhD, Ken carried out research in the Canadian Arctic and pioneered the use of UAVs for glaciological surveys. His current activity within the research community is focused on developing methods for the fusion of ground-based data with UAV imagery.
Join us in the Odyssey after the Conference for wonderful appetizers and beverages (includes: 1 complimentary beverage and a cash bar) The patio will be open (weather permitting) Music provided by: Busker Du
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