Mark Blanks graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachlor's degree in aerospace maintenance management followed by a master's degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He is a licensed airframe & powerplant technician and holds a private pilot’s license with an instrument rating.

Blanks has served in a variety of positions in the aviation industry, including aircraft maintenance, flight test and aircraft certification. He joined the faculty of MTSU in 2009 as an aviation maintenance instructor. While at MTSU, Blanks was instrumental in the formation of the university’s UAS program, and he moved into a full-time UAS position at MTSU in the spring of 2011. Blanks became the interim director of the MTSU UAS program in the spring of 2012.

In January 2013, Blanks accepted the position of UAS program manager for Kansas State University. In his current role, Blanks oversees the growth and development of the K-State UAS program through refinement of both the academic and research programs. Blanks serves as the chairman for the ASTM F38-02 Subcommittee on UAS Flight Operations and is actively involved in research to support the integration of UAS into the national airspace system. Throughout his career, Blanks has successfully coordinated and completed numerous research projects for federal agencies, private sponsors and internal university groups.

Dallas Brooks is the owner of UAS ONE, a consulting firm dedicated to advancing the capabilities of unmanned aircraft systems to improve the lives of people around the world. A recognized national leader in unmanned systems integration, he engages and coordinates with national and international regulatory, support and administrative agencies to further the growth and represent the interests of the unmanned systems industry. Brooks’ aviation and technical experience spans more than 30 years, primarily in service to the U.S. armed forces at home and overseas.

Prior to founding UAS ONE, Brooks was the chairman of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airspace Integration Integrated Product Team, office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. In this role, he led a joint team of aviation professionals from the four military departments, the office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, and a consortium of scientific and aviation experts focused on enabling UAS access to support Department of Defense operational, training and R&D requirements. His team formulated, developed and implemented DoD unmanned aircraft policies, procedures, flight standards, technologies and systems in support of the department’s materiel requirements and mission objectives. Brooks also is the principal author of the 2011 DoD UAS Airspace Integration Plan and directed development of the 2011 DoD UAS Airspace Integration Concept of Operations.

Before joining OSD, (then Lieutenant Colonel) Brooks served as the chief, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Policy, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. There, he oversaw the development and maturation of the Air Force’s UAS integration plans and initiatives, including initiating UAS-specific training and medical qualification standards for Air Force UAS pilots and operators. He also served as the primary DoD liaison to the Federal Aviation Administration for unmanned aircraft systems issues and collaborative partnerships, and as the military director of the DoD’s policy board on federal aviation.

Brooks was the principal author of the 2007 DoD/ FAA memorandum of agreement on unmanned aircraft systems operation in the national airspace system. This landmark agreement opened nearly 40,000 square miles of additional airspace to DoD unmanned aircraft, and ensured DoD/FAA partnering on a host of UAS integration issues.

Brooks serves on multiple national-level boards, committees and steering groups. He is a member of the national board of directors for the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the world's largest nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to advancing the unmanned systems and robotics community. He also is co-chair of the Department of Defense’s UAS Sense and Avoid Science and Research Panel, and is a member of the FAA’s UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee.

Brooks retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2009 after a 24-year career. A former Air Force air traffic controller and master communications officer, Brooks has a master’s degree in both telecommunications and aeronautical science. He and his wife, Whitney, reside in Tennessee with their son, Austin.

Erik Folkestad graduated from Oregon State University with a bachlor's degree in agricultural engineering. An active member in several organizations, Folkestad focuses his time as the president of the Cascade Chapter for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. The chapter is the fastest growing in AUVSI and will soon be the largest. Its membership consists of scientists, researchers, engineers and operators from around the Northwest. Folkestad is employed by Arcturus UAV as an unmanned systems application engineer and aslo serves as the company’s export compliance officer.

Brad Hayden grew up in the aviation industry, working as a repairman and a dealer from a young age in his family’s avionics sales and service business. After graduating from the University of Utah, he left aviation to begin a nearly 20-year career managing global, high-tech marketing programs for companies like US Robotics, 3Com, Informix and EFI.

In 2007, Hayden returned to aviation as one of the original employees of Aspen Avionics, a venture-backed cockpit display manufacturer, where he was responsible for creating and building the emerging company’s brand and overall marketing presence. In 2010, he was given responsibility for all product strategy at Aspen, and led the definition and rollout of the company’s groundbreaking Connected Panel product line, which has revolutionized the synchronization of data in the cockpit.

Today, Hayden is the president and CEO of Robotic Skies, a partner network of FAA-certified Part 145 repair stations that are optimized to provide certification and maintenance services for the emerging commercial drone fleet. In addition, Hayden is publisher of Droneport (www.droneport.com), a site dedicated to facilitating the integration of commercial drones and the established aviation community. Hayden also serves as president of Kings Avionics, the aircraft electronics sales and service company his father started in 1969.

A certified private pilot and an avid First Person View drone pilot, Hayden believes that the future of aviation lies in embracing and supporting emerging technologies, such as drone aircraft, into the mainstream of the aerospace industry. Hayden lives in Albuquerque, N.M., with his wife, Thea, a marketing executive with Dell, and their three children.