Major Energy Drone Expo Grows Advisory Board

A major energy-sector drone group is adding to its numbers with a duo of UAV leaders to a major event advisory board.

The Energy Drone Coalition Summit & Expo, billed as “the biggest event exclusively focused on the business and technology of UAVs/Robotics (aerial, ground/surface and subsea) in energy operations” has appointed Matt Dunlevy, President and CEO of SkySkopes, and Eileen Lockhart, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Manager, Xcel Energy. The pair will join the 2018 Summit on June 20-21 in Houston.

“I am thrilled to see the pioneering work being done by the Energy Drone Coalition and am honored to accept a role on the advisory board,” Dunlevy said.

He added:

“At SkySkopes, we believe that the energy sector is the industry with the most mature use cases for UAS, though there is still significant work that needs to be done, and the EDC is a fantastic step in the correct direction. I look forward to working with other nationally recognized UAS leaders in order to innovate new solutions for utilities, oil and gas companies, and others.”

In addition to Dunlevy and Lockhart, the board includes:

• Suzanne Lemieux, UAS Lead and Manager, API
• George C. Williamson, SETA, Inspection, Testing and Commissioning Materials Team, BP America Inc., Upstream Engineering Centre
• Pierce Prater, Service Consultant Supervisor, Power Delivery Solutions, CenterPoint Energy
• Landon Phillips, Chief Operating Officer, DataWing Global
• Christopher Korody, Founder, DroneBusiness.center
• Jacob Velky, Manager, Unmanned Aerial Systems, Duke Energy
• Brian Williams, UAS Coordinator, Duke Energy
• Tony Cinson, Senior Technical Leader – NDE Innovation, EPRI – Electric Power Research Institute
• Travis Moran, Strategic Partner, Gryphon Sensors
• Lisa Ellman, Partner, Hogan Lovells
• Jason Forte, Commercial Solutions, Insitu, Inc.
• Todd Chase, Global Unmanned Systems Program Manager, Oceaneering
• Diana Marina Cooper, VP of Legal and Policy Affairs, PrecisionHawk
• Hector Ubinas, UAS Program Lead/Aviation Safety Advisor, San Diego Gas & Electric
• Josh Olds, Vice President of Operations, Unmanned Safety Institute / Argus Unmanned
• Mitch Droz, MBA, Co-Owner, VP of Operations and Customer Experience, Wolf UAS, LLC
• Steven Poirot, Operations & Safety Director, Aerial Data Management, WorleyParsons

“Xcel Energy’s accomplishments with UAS are the result of exceptional partnerships within the public and private sectors,” Eileen Lockhart, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Manager, Xcel Energy, said. “I am honored to serve with an impressive group of professionals on the Energy Drone Coalition Board and look forward to contributing to the mission of facilitating opportunities for innovation and collaboration needed for the next chapter of UAS.”