Unmanned Systems Association of Virginia names board members and elects officers

The Unmanned Systems Association of Virginia (USAV), a new trade association representing the unmanned systems industry in Virginia, elected officers and its board of directors at its first meeting on Monday.

The organization includes 10 founding company members, whose representatives were named to the board of directors. The board then elected officers, whose terms will last through Aug. 30, 2017.

The directors include:

·         Sean Cushing, Hazon Solutions (chairman)
·         Guy Sanitate, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) (secretary)
·         Joel Campbell, Avineon (treasurer)
·         Nicole Barranco, Volkswagen Group of America
·         Bob Burkholder, Clark Nexsen
·         Robert E. Dehnert, Jr., Raytheon
·         Steven A. Eisenrauch, Dominion Virginia Power
·         Robert Grant, Lyft
·         John Lamb, Newport News Shipbuilding
·         Charles Mondello, Property Drone Consortium

The association’s key objectives include promoting Virginia’s UAS test site at Virginia Tech, unmanned systems research and other resources; supporting legislation that promotes the development of technology; promoting grants to expand existing or attract new unmanned systems businesses; to support STEM education and workforce programs; and to promote collaboration among entrepreneurial, existing technology and academic research entities.