Andy Thurling

“If these things perform as we expect in accordance with our values and are used for good, or if they end up performing poorly, leaving us disappointed, creating potentially new hazards or being used for ill – that’s the message here.  Technologists and business leaders, who are out in front, need to take a look at it and make sure we’re doing all we can.”

-- Andy Thurling

This Week’s Key Question

“What’s involved in performing validation and testing of BVLOS and Safety protocols?”

This Week’s Guest

Andy Thurling is Chief Technology Officer of the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance.  NUAIR, as its commonly known, is a New York-based nonprofit with a mission to safely integrate uncrewed aircraft systems into the national airspace, enabling scalable, economically viable commercial drone operations.  NUAIR manages operations of the FAA-designated New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport, Rome, NY on behalf of Oneida County and is responsible for the advancement of New York’s 50-mile UAS Corridor between Rome and Syracuse, NY.  Andy leads technical research on current and future UAS technologies.  He also evaluates potential paths to implementation, industry standards for approval by regulators, and test techniques to verify compliance. Prior to NUAIR, Andy was Director of Product Safety and Mission Assurance at AeroVironment where he led airworthiness, certification, and airspace access strategic efforts.

What We Learn

Andy talks about NUAIR, the current efforts in testing BVLOS protecols, and validation of safety standards for UAS systems.  We also talk about this year’s Xponential 2022 conference in Orlando and why we should all attend.

 Mentioned Links

Xponential