Uncrewed industry award winners announced

By jnally on 1 April, 2022

Dr Andrew Tridgell (Aerial Robotics Australia). Photo by Photox – Canberra Photography Services.

The winners of the Australian Association for Uncrewed Systems (AAUS) annual Industry Champion awards were announced at a gala event in Canberra on 29 March.

More than 80 nominations had been received across the seven award categories.

The winner of the Leadership Award is Dr Andrew Tridgell (The ArduPilot Foundation/Aerial Robotics Australia) for his work as Lead Developer for ArduPilot, an open source autopilot software project now in widespread global use. Dr Tridgell (photo above) has been a driving force in the evolution, accessibility and democratisation of uncrewed systems globally for over 10 years.

The winner of the Innovation–Technology Award is Ascent Vision Technologies Australia for the development of the CM234 Spitfire gimbal, a lightweight, 4-axis stabilised, seven-sensor imaging system. Designed, developed, and produced in Australia, the CM234 originated with Defence Innovation Hub contract P18-937600, and was later selected for incorporation into the Land 129 Phase 3 program to support Australian Defence customers.

Eric von Keudell, Kyle Ross and Evert van Schuppen (Ascent Vision Technologies Australia). Photo by Photox – Canberra Photography Services.

The winner of the Innovation–Operations Award is AVCRM for the development of four new modules for its RPA operational and compliance management platform. The new modules include an Integrated Auto Authorisation System for operations within the regulatory distance of a controlled airport for both Australia and New Zealand; an Auto Telemetry Syncing and Processing System for automatic RPA logs and customisable flight assessment; a Schedule Maintenance System, which is compliant to all categories of RPA including above 150kg (Type Certificate); and and Integrated GPS Track and Monitoring System for Operational Control rooms.

Chris Clark, Isaac Palmer and Jonathan King (AVCRM). Photo by Photox – Canberra Photography Services.

The winner of the Education & Safety Award is Aviassist for the design and implementation of a SORA (Specific Operational Risk Assessment) training workshop for operators seeking complex approvals, including Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations.

Rowan Kimber, Ross Anderson and Kendyl Blue (Aviassist). Photo by Photox – Canberra Photography Services.

The winner of the Social Impact Award is Dendra Systems for its work to empower humanity to restore the balance of our natural world by creating the tools needed to drive scalable ecosystem restoration. Dendra works around the world to restore land on behalf of global natural resource companies, as well as public agencies and governments, to accelerate the rate at which we bring back natural ecosystems for land that has been degraded and is vulnerable to ecosystem restoration threats.

Rhonda Bulmer (Dendra Systems). Photo by Photox – Canberra Photography Services.

The winner of the NextGen Achievement Award is Mathew Gardiner (Shoal Group) for his important technical roles within Shoal Group, leading development spirals on a number of key projects with the Australian Space Agency and the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG).

Mathew Gardiner (Shoal Group). Photo by Photox – Canberra Photography Services.

The winner of the Diversity & Inclusion Award is Dr Karen Joyce (She Maps, Geonadir and James Cook University) for her leadership and advocacy work for diversity and inclusion within the uncrewed systems industry and, more broadly, geospatial sciences and STEM.