Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with interesting presentations and a lot of great conversation. There were over 150 participants despite the Government shutdown and a wide variety of folks representing a myriad of functional areas for unmanned systems, precision agriculture and beyond were present.Monday’s kick off saw over 25 exhibits and posters and proved to be a great venue for interactive discussion, engagement and collaboration. The exhibits and posters remained in the foyer for the duration of the conference and served as a rallying point for folks during breaks and before and after formal conference events.
An international colleague from Hungary presented a poster on some very interesting weather/meteorological efforts under development. More to follow on this later.
Tuesday and Wednesday were event filled from beginning to end. From a scene-setting speach, key note and lead in presentations we tried to capture the essence of the opportunities and potentials that this industry has for the future. The concurrent breakout sessions provided a great venue across a multitude of applications and the panel discussions proved informative and insightful.
Mayor Bob Dixson of Greensburg, Kansas gave a moving presentation as the evening speaker, on Greensburg and their efforts to rebuild through innovation for a sustainable future. His presentation was a true highlight of the conference as it underscored the essence of the good people of Kansas and our nation.
The conference concluded with reports on roundtable discussions that identified areas in need of focus and to discuss where to next in an assessment the future of this industry.
All in all, the participants had a great time and the future looks bright for opportunities to collaborate and work toward solving some of our collective grand challenges at the local, regional, state, national and international levels.