The concept of drone delivery may have originally seemed like a marketing gimmick, but it has become a serious program for many companies. Consequently, Drone World Expo has announced that this year the keynote presentation, “The Realities of Drone Delivery”.
The Realities of Drone Delivery will take place on Wednesday, November 16, from 9-10 am. Speakers include Dr. Kerry Palakanis, CEO, Crisfield Clinic; Lawrence Williams, Head of U.S. Business Development, Zipline International; Mark Blanks, Director, Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, and Travis Mason, Public Policy & Government Relations, X (formerly Google[x]).
Kerry Palakanis and Lawrence Williams will discuss the use of unmanned aircraft to deliver critical medical supplies to improve health access in hard-to-reach areas. Zipline is currently deploying the first nationwide drone delivery system in Rwanda, Africa, and is planning to initiate service in the United States once regulatory approvals are received, beginning in Maryland, Nevada, and Washington State.
Travis Mason and Mark Blanks will discuss Project Wing’s partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership to test delivery by unmanned aircraft at Virginia Tech. Project Wing is part of X, an innovation lab formerly known as Google[x], that incubates new breakthroughs in science or technology. The flights were Project Wing’s first tests involving external users in the U.S., and its first collaboration with a Federal Aviation Administration-selected unmanned aircraft test site. This early-stage research effort, the latest in a series of groundbreaking projects by the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, addresses many of the numerous policy and safety issues that are currently under development across the industry and by the FAA.
Drone World Expo, the defining event for the commercial applications of UAS technology, will take place November 15-16, 2016 in the heart of Silicon Valley at the San Jose Convention Center. Commercial drone professionals may register for complimentary expo passes which include access the exhibit hall, Tech Talks and demonstrations from featured exhibitors, networking receptions each day, dynamic keynote presentations each morning and sponsored forums. End-users of drone technology may qualify to attend the full conference at no charge.
Source: Press Release