2026 Agenda


Monday, October 12

4:30 pm - 7:30 pm UAS Summit & Expo Opening Reception at Grand Sky
*Must Be Registered

Tuesday, October 13
*Central Daylight Time Zone

7:30 am - 6:00 pm Expo Open
7:30 am - 8:30 am Breakfast and Customer Client Networking
View Breakfast Menu
8:00 am – 8:20 am Testing in Extreme Environments: Insights from the Aurora Center for Extreme Weather Materials Testing
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Michelle Pierre, Aurora Center for Extreme Weather Materials, Elinor Coatings, LLC
General Session Sponsored By
   
8:30 am - 8:45 am Welcome
Ballroom
  • John Nelson, COO, BBI International
8:45 am - 8:55 am Remarks from North Dakota Office of the Governor
Ballroom
  • Lt. Governor Michelle Strinden, Office of Governor, State of North Dakota
8:55 am - 9:00 am Looking Back at 20 Years of the UAS Summit
Ballroom
  • John Nelson, COO, BBI International
9:00 am - 10:00 am Discussion with U.S. Senator John Hoeven
Ballroom
  • U.S. Senator for North Dakota, John Hoeven
  • Jared Isaacman, Administrator of NASA
  • General Mike Guetlein, Director of Golden Dome, United States Space Force
10:00 am - 10:15 am Small Drone, Big Challenge: Countermeasures and Capabilities for a New Era
Ballroom
  • Colonel Alfred J. Rosales, Commander, 319th Reconnaissance Wing, Grand Forks Air Force Base
10:15 am - 10:30 am Building UND's Innovation Ecosystem
Ballroom
  • Andrew Armacost, President, University of North Dakota
10:30 am - 11:15 am Concurrent Sessions
An Honest Look at UAS for Weed Control in Agriculture
Ballroom
Moderator: Xin Sun, Associate Professor in Precision Agriculture, North Dakota State University
  • Nathan Marcotte, Sr. Program Manager of Innovation and Technology, Grand Farm
  • Doug McDonald, General Manager, ISight Drone Services
  • David Gorder, Farmer Representative
Counter-UAS Strategies for Critical Infrastructure Protection
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Matt Dunlevy, President and CEO, ND UAS Council
  • Richard Lusk, President, Oculus Deus, LLC
    Securing Domestic Infrastructure: Balancing Advanced sUAS Threats and Collateral Risk
  • Ray Etter, President/Chief Engineer, TerraConcepts, LLC
    C-sUAS Digital Mission Engineering
  • Glenn McArthur, Business Development Manager, D-Fend Solutions
    RF Cyber Takeover and AI-Enhanced Sensor Fusion: The Safe, Precise Foundation for Effective Counter-UAS in Sensitive Environments
11:15 am - Noon Concurrent Sessions
From Compliance to Capability: Modernizing State UAS Fleets Through North Dakota's Drone Replacement Program (DRP)
Ballroom
Moderator: Victor Meza, Marketing Manager, Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS)
  • Annie Santos, Project Manager, Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS)
  • Landon Johnson, Senior Business Development Manager - UAS, North Dakota Department of Commerce
  • ND Representative Mike Nathe, Chairman House Appropriations Education/Environment Committee District 30 Bismarck, ND Legislative Branch
  • Chad Keech, Senior Procurement Officer, North Dakota Office of Management and Budget
Trusted Autonomy for Modern Military Operations
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Srikrishna Sallam, Independent Researcher, NorthStar Cognition Labs LLC
  • Matt Martin, Director of C2ISR and RPA Strategy, CAE USA
    LVC for CCA - Introducing Autonomous Aircraft into the Operational Environment
  • Sean “SilverBack” Buck, Cyber Capability Focus Area (CFA) Lead, Dep Sr Director, Modern Technology Solutions Inc. (MTSI)
    Blue List to Battlefield: From Compliance to Combat Capability
Noon - 1:00 pm Networking Lunch - Dedicated Expo Time
View Lunch Menu
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Concurrent Sessions
Ballroom Panels
1:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Advancing Autonomy: Driving Innovation with Speed
Ballroom
  • Mike Fridolfs, Site Director, Grand Sky, Northrop Grumman Corporation
1:15 pm – 1:30 pm
What Mission Architectures Reveal About Blue Development and Red Team Behavior
Ballroom
  • Price DeSanctis, Model Based Systems Engineer, Modern Technology Solutions Inc. (MTSI)
1:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Lessons Learned from Operating Multiple Hypersonic UAS at Diverse Ranges with Multiple Carrier Aircraft
Ballroom
  • Zachary Krevor, President & CEO, Stratolaunch
1:45 pm – 2:30 pm
Following the Money: Where Investors Are Placing Their Bets in the UAS Ecosystem
Ballroom
Moderator: Bill Daggett, Founder/Managing Director, Delta Advisory Group
  • Muhammad Khan, General Partner, Prime US Ventures
  • Glenn McArthur, Business Development Manager, D-Fend Solutions
  • Bobby Sakaki, CEO/Founder, UAS Nexus
  • Paul Woolard, Partner, Veterans Ventures
Meeting Room 2 Panels
1:00 pm – 1:45 pm
Building Resilience in GNSS-Denied and Contested Environments
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Adrienne Yandell, Senior Associate, Delta Advisory Group
  • Cody Smith, Senior Software Engineer, Space Dynamics Laboratory
    Flying Blind - UAS Navigation in GNSS-Denied Environment
  • Brent Pope, Chief Operating Officer, EagleNXT
    The Full-Spectrum Air-Domain - Integrating Secure ISR and AI-Powered Counter-UAS for Multi-Domain Readiness
1:45 pm – 2:30 pm
Drone Warfare at Scale: Emerging Threats and Operational Lessons
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Don Berchoff, CEO, TruWeather Solutions
  • Matt Dunlevy, President and CEO, ND UAS Council
    Drones Over Iran: The Role of Unmanned Systems on Both Sides of the Conflict
  • Kirill Rivkin, Dr., GENESIS AERONAUTICA CORPORATION
    Fiber Optic UAS - Stopgap Solution or Enduring Technology?
  • Stephen Lloyd, Senior Director, AV, Inc
    Don’t Lose to Volume: Building Distributed C-UAS for the Next UAS Fight
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Networking Break - Dedicated Expo Time
View Refreshment Break Menu
2:35 pm – 2:55 pm Beyond the Airframe: Breaking the Delivery-Compliance Bottleneck in High-Stakes Drone Logistics
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Shaun Walling, Chief Strategy Officer, Flightbox
3:00 pm - 3:45 pm Concurrent Panels
Strengthening Public Safety and Local Government with UAS
Ballroom

Moderator: Scott Meyer, Director of Engagement, Grand Sky
  • Richard Thompson, Assistant Director, Williston Economic Development
    UAS in Local and County Government
  • Robert Sekera, Sentinel Drone Solutions
    Digital Twins for Critical Infrastructures
Protecting the Homeland from Emerging UAS Threats
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Jason Saldana, Vice President, Strategic Development, Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. (MTSI)
  • Col Jason “Billy” Idleman, Division Chief, Integrated Portfolio Division, Joint Interagency Task Force 401
    Delivering C-UAS Protection for the Homeland
  • Paul Cano, AiON Lead Integrator, Northrop Grumman Corporation
    Countering the C-UAS Threat through Rapid Innovation & Partnering
  • Adrienne Yandell, Senior Associate, Delta Advisory Group
    Case Studies in CONUS C-UAS
3:45 pm - 4:30 pm Concurrent Panels
Beyond Detection: Advancing Air Domain Awareness Through Project ULTRA
Ballroom

    Moderator: Dawn Zoldi, Founder/CEO, P3 Tech Consulting
    • Chris Hewlett, Director, Project ULTRA, Grand Sky Development Company, LLC
    • Shawn Maines, OUSW A&S Project ULTRA PM, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Sustainment
    • Alex Nesser, Project ULTRA Airspace Domain Awareness and cUAS PM, Grand Sky Development Company, LLC
The Anatomy of an Overnight Success: Building the Vantis Federal Radar Data Enclave
Meeting Room 2
  • Mark Askelson, University of North Dakota
  • Nick Flom, UAS Industry Expert
  • Chris Theisen, UND RIAS
  • Trevor Woods, Northern Plains UAS Test Site
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm Networking Reception - Dedicated Expo Time
View Reception Menu
4:35 pm – 4:55 pm Pilots’ Transition to eVTOL Powered-Lift Flight
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Robbie Lunnie, Associate Teaching Professor, UND Aerospace
5:00 pm – 5:20 pm Nationwide Scaleable Infrastructure for UAS
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Lisa Lombino, Vice President - Sales, Vertical Markets, American Tower Corporation
5:25 pm - 5:45 pm From Data to Mission Insight: A Data-Driven Digital Mission Engineering Ecosystem for UAS
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Alexander Matthews, Sr Principal Platform Architect, Modern Technology Solutions Inc. (MTSI)

Wednesday, October 14
*Central Daylight Time Zone

7:30 am - 4:30 pm Expo Open
7:30 am - 8:30 am Breakfast and Customer Client Networking
View Breakfast Menu
7:30 am - 8:30 am Pitch Day Sessions 1
Ballroom
  • Moderator: Delore Zimmerman, Director, UAS Angel Network
  • David Lee, Vice Chair, Federal Laboratory Consortium
    Accessing Technologies from Federal Laboratories
  • Ironaxe Corporation
  • Vigilant Aerospace
  • KAZE Drones
8:00 am – 8:20 am New Seed Fund Available for Startups
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Dan Gustafson, PMO, Ag Tech, Ndeavor
General Session Sponsored By
   
8:30 am - 9:00 am Welcome and Presentation of 2026 UAS Sky Pioneer Award
Ballroom
  • John Nelson, COO, BBI International
9:00 am - 10:00 am Discussion with U.S. Senator John Hoeven
Ballroom
  • U.S. Senator for North Dakota, John Hoeven
  • Representative from Joint Interagency Task Force 401
  • Andrew Armacost, President, University of North Dakota
10:00 am - 10:15 am UAS Law Update
Ballroom
  • Joseph Vacek, Professor, University of North Dakota Aerospace
10:15 am - 10:30 am One Sky, Fifty Rulebooks: The Case for Federal-State Alignment on Commercial Drone Policy
Ballroom
  • Mason Sisk, Director, Government Affairs, AUVSI
10:30 am - 11:15 am Concurrent Panels
BVLOS for Agriculture: Results from 2026 Large-Scale Field Operations
Ballroom
Moderator: Doug Olsen, Owner, Olsen Industries LLC
  • Steven Englert, UAS Operations Lead, Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS)
  • Matt Sather, General Manager, Botlink
  • Aaron Reinholz, Ag Tech Program Manager, NDSU
A New Era for Drones: Part 108, Part 146, and the Path to Scalable BVLOS
Meeting Room 2
  • Danielle Miller, Director of Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS)
  • Nicholas Flom, UAS Industry Expert
11:15 am – Noon Concurrent Panels
Enabling Routine BVLOS Operations: Regulation, Detect-and-Avoid, and Airspace Integration
Ballroom
Moderator: Lisa Lombino Vice President - Sales, Vertical Markets, American Tower Corporation
  • David Cole, Co-Founder and CEO, FlyFreely
    Busting the 400ft Ceiling of Part 108
  • David Marcus, Program Manager, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
    Unlocking Routine BVLOS Operations Through Certified Airborne and Ground Based Detect and Avoid
  • Kraettli Epperson, CEO, Vigilant Aerospace Systems, Inc.
    State of the Art in UAS Airspace Integration: Ground-Based and Onboard Systems for Safe Crewed-Uncrewed Operations
Advanced Aircraft Design for Future Operations
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Pramod Raheja, CEO, Airgility, Inc.
  • Neil Winston, Chief Engineer, Hopflyt, Inc.
    Hybrid-Electric VTOL UAS: Bridging the Gap Between Endurance, Payload, and Runway Independence
  • Jolynne Tschetter, Director of Research and Development, Elinor Coatings, LLC
    Breaking Through the Ice: Advanced Surface Coatings for All-Weather UAS Operations
Noon - 1:00 pm Networking Lunch
View Lunch Menu
Noon - 1:00 pm Pitch Day Sessions 2
Ballroom
  • Moderator: Delore Zimmerman, Director, UAS Angel Network
  • David Lee, Vice Chair, Federal Laboratory Consortium
    Accessing Technologies from Federal Laboratories
  • ATP GOV
  • Bandelier Technologies, Inc.
  • Zing Drone Solutions
1:00 pm - 1:45 pm Concurrent Panels
Building, Funding and Protecting UAS Businesses
Ballroom
Moderator: Alana Jeannie Monje, Researcher, University of North Dakota
  • Jeff Barta, SBIR Specialist & Tech Scout, University of North Dakota
    The Power of Collaboration: How Local Government, Industry, and Universities Are Driving Real-World UAV Innovation
  • Tom Kading, Fargo Patent & Business Law
    Protecting Your UAS Advantage: Practical IP Strategies for Growth
  • Nicholas Beaulieu, Shareholder/Patent Attorney, Conley Rose, PC
    Protecting UAS Innovation: Strategic Patent Development for Emerging Drone Technologies
Dual-Use Advantage: How UAS Innovators Can Leverage U.S. Government Funding to Accelerate Commercial Growth
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Toni Balzano, VP of Strategy, Q Station
  • Dr. Amin Maghareh, Technical Advisor/Senior Research Engineer in Space & Autonomy, Verus Research
  • Randy Trask, CEO, Q Station
  • Sonia Dagan, Founder & CEO, Kytyra
  • Luis Cordova, Former AFWERX Leadership
1:45 pm - 2:30 pm Concurrent Panels
Turning Your Drone Idea Into a Sustainable Business
Ballroom
Moderator: Karthik Balaji, Ph.D., Senior Director of Technology & Product Development, Aethero Advanced Analytics
  • Vigneshwar Parameshwar, PhD Student, University of North Dakota College of Engineering & Mines
    Empowering the U.S. Drone Industry: Lessons from a Civilian Marketplace Platform
  • Jacob Andrews, CEO & Founder, Drones iVue Inc.
    Developing the Future of Drones
  • Becky Kelderman, Sr. Sales Director, Manufacturo Inc
    Your Drone Isn’t the Problem. Your Manufacturing Is
Preparing for Defense Markets: Compliance, Certification and Contract Readiness
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Bill Daggett, Founder/Managing Director, Delta Advisory Group
  • Erik Gifford, Manager of CMMC Cybersecurity Compliance Consulting, Kieri Solutions
    CMMC Readiness - Start With The Basics
  • Mike Crandall, CEO, Digital Beachhead
    Avoiding CMMC Failure: Common Compliance Pitfalls as seen by a C3PAO
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Networking Break - Dedicated Expo Time
View Refreshment Break Menu
2:35 pm – 2:55 pm Building Minnesota's UAS Workforce Ecosystem: Creating Scalable Talent Pathways Across Industry Sectors
INNOVATION STAGE - EXPO
  • Shawn Haag, Executive Director, Minnesota State Transportation Center of Excellence
3:00 pm - 3:45 pm Concurrent Panels
Building Safer Airspace Through Data and Automation
Ballroom
Moderator: Paul Snyder, Director of UAS Operations, University of North Dakota
  • Emmanuel Chukwuemeka, Research Scientist, University of North Dakota
    Operational Gaps in Remote ID: Implications for Real-Time UAS Surveillance and Airspace Safety
  • Sreejith Vidhyadharan Nair, Research Assistant Professor, Aviation, University of North Dakota
    Predictive Airspace Safety Analytics Through RID–ADS-B Fusion, Knowledge Graphs, and LLM Reasoning
  • Hyungu Hwang, CEO, ToBScommunication Inc.
    A Cooperative Communication-Based Detect-and-Avoid Safety Layer for Low-Altitude Airspace
The Technology Stack for Resilient UAS Operations
Meeting Room 2
Moderator: Becky Kelderman, Sr. Sales Director, Manufacturo Inc
  • Anil Goparaju, Head of Product, TrustPoint, Inc.
    Building Resilient Drone Operations in a GPS-Contested World
  • Tyler Mashore, Business Development Officer, US Defense/Aerospace, Embention
    A High-Integrity Flight Control Strategy for Loitering Munitions, Interceptors and Launched Effects
  • Charles Gill, Director of Project Development, Vorbeck Materials
    Countering UAS Targeting Algorithms with Garment-based Material and Fabric Innovations
3:45 pm - 4:30 pm Concurrent Panels
Building Trust in Autonomous Operations
Ballroom
Moderator: Mike Wimmer, Strategic Growth Director, PEMDAS Technologies
  • Tanner Yackley, Founder, Remote Warrior LLC
    The Invisible Layer: Human-System Friction in Autonomous and UAS Operations
  • Dr. Jonathan Foremny, Professor, Pilot, Manager - Aviation and UAS Standards, Viasat, Carroll College
    From Experimental Operations to Scalable BVLOS Integration: Engineering Operationally Airworthy UAS Ecosystems for Advanced Air Mobility
  • Srikrishna Sallam, Independent Researcher, NorthStar Cognition Labs LLC
    Trusted Operational Evidence for Autonomous Systems: A Cryptographically Verifiable Evidence Layer for UAS
Tempering Traditional Aviation
Meeting Room 2
  • Scott Coon, Strategy & Business Development, Special Programs, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
  • Jonathan H. Daniels, FRAeS, FASTM, Vice President of Safety & Compliance, DroneUp LLC and CEO, Praxis Aerospace Concepts Cluster
  • Shawn Bullard, CEO, Duetto Group
4:30 pm Sessions Conclude

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