Barry Morris
President
Mr. Morris brings more than 28 years of business and corporate management experience to Dronitek. He has more than 5,200 hours of fixed wing aircraft flight time including over 2,200 hours of manned flight instruction given, 33 years of accident/incident free flight operations and experience in over 35 different aircraft makes and models. Barry is currently flying as a FAA certified flight instructor in both single and multi-engine aircraft. He is a FAA Advanced Ground Instructor, Remote Pilot and was awarded the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Flight Instructor Excellence Honor Roll recognition in 2013, 2014 and again for 2015. As a Chief Flight Instructor, he has worked closely with the FAA in developing training curriculum for FAR Part 141 flight schools in addition to operating his own flight academy and is our chief instructor at Dronitek. He is absolutely passionate about aviation and believes in providing the highest level of training to all our students.
Greg Karr
Executive Vice President, Finance & Strategic Planning
Mr. Karr has more than 25 years of banking, corporate and financial executive management experience including executive level experience in corporate management, strategic planning, financial management, risk management, financial analysis, organizational analysis, capital raises and mergers / acquisitions. He has extensive corporate experience as a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and other executive officer positions for various companies. Greg is an avid sports enthusiast who enjoys golf and other sport activities.
Nick Swartzendruber
Chief Flight Trainer
Mr. Swartzendruber brings more than 13 years and 2000+ hours of radio control (RC) fixed wing and multi-rotor experience to Dronitek. In addition to being our Chief Flight Trainer, Nick also teaches our Advanced UAS Cinematography Production Certification course. He is an established leader in the field of sUAS and is the owner and operator of a very successful business that specializes in aerial cinematography and film making in the Western U.S.. Nick has extensive experience in business management, electronic and mechanical aircraft setups, flight training and programming. His close ties to aircraft platform manufacturers has developed into business relationships whereby he is a test pilot and assists in research and development of associated mechanical and electronic systems. When Nick isn’t teaching, flying and editing film, he enjoys camping, motorcycle riding, and spending time with his family.
Jeff Lautrup
Lead Simulator & Flight Trainer
Mr. Lautrup brings a wide range of talent to the Dronitek trainer team. With over 20 years of radio controlled aircraft building and flying, and over 20 years in the residential and commercial insurance industry, Jeff is a simulator and lead flight trainer for our Commercial UAS/Remote Pilot Certification course. For the last 6 years he has dedicated himself to mainly First Person View (FPV) craft and helped pioneer the home grown movement. Jeff was also a pioneer in multi-rotor aerial photography and locally started the real estate virtual tour filming that is still popular today. He was the flight line director for the very first Drone Nationals held in Sacramento, CA in the summer of 2015 and is still very active in the local FPV racing community. His passion is building custom EPP flying wings and is part of the organizational process of FPV wing racing, chase video and formation flying. Don’t hesitate to ask Jeff about all things FPV!
Alvin Alejandro
Lead Flight Trainer, Remote Sensor Expert
Mr. Alejandro possesses over 24 years of teaching experience. He carries an ANSI thermologist certification which is a globally recognized and respected. As an award-winning motorcycle instructor, Alvin never places any bounds, limits, or ways to improve on anything he teaches. As the in-house expert in UAS remote sensors, Alvin is Dronitek’s lead trainer in our UAS Structure Inspector and Maintenance & Repair Certification courses. He continually researches the latest technology and technique through theoretical concepts to real world missions. Alvin has experience in working with 3D modeling, DSM, DTM, DEM, thermal imaging and has been involved in volunteer based search and recovery missions. He conducts a very successful public drone awareness program he created entitled, “Drones: An Introduction to a Modern Phenomenon”, which are all conducted through county library systems.
Alvin served in the Air Force, received the Desert Shield/Storm Service Recognition Award, holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology/Pre-PT, MSF/TCT/CMSP Instructor for 25 years and POST Law Enforcement training. Alvin also heads Dronitek’s enterprise, open platform custom aircraft build unit specializing in utilizing FLIR sensors for specific public safety, educator, corporate and private sector clients.
Doug Wiedman
First Responder, Subject Matter Expert (SME) Instructor
Mr. Wiedman is an instructor for Dronitek’s First Responder UAS Certification Course. Doug is a retired Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff as well as a current level 1 Deputy Sheriff Reserve for Sacramento County. Doug is currently assigned as a reserve helping to train fellow UAS pilots as well as help develop the Sheriff’s Department’s UAS program. He has recently been working on and researching both UAS and counter-UAS projects as they relate to law enforcement agencies and custody facilities.
Doug holds an AS degree in Computer Technology from Cuyamaca College in San Diego, a BS Degree in Political Science from CSU Chico and a MA in International Affairs from CSU Sacramento. He received his Police Officers Standard Training (POST) Certificate from Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, is a licensed FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot with a night operation waiver as well as controlled airspace waivers and authorizations.
Doug has been building and flying small-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and related first person view (FPV) systems since 2010. He has conducted numerous photo and video sessions for clients in multiple countries, including the US, Spain, Ireland, the UK, Mexico as is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) at operating safely a UAS in hazardous-extreme weather conditions.
He is a UAS, SME to the National Inter Agency Board (IAB) and also a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 2400 technical committee which has been tasked with drafting the first national standards for UAS use by first responders. Other current roles include advisor to local and regional law enforcement agencies who are interested in developing and or to obtain a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the FAA to operate and develop a UAS program and lectures to and been an advisor for private investigator associations and bail bonds associations on how to incorporate commercial UAS use into their existing operations.
Shannon Wyman
UAS Precision Agriculture Instructor
Mr. Wyman is Dronitek’s lead UAS Precision Agriculture Instructor and has been involved in all stages of Production Agriculture for the last 10 years, from Row crop seed production to introduction of new GMO traits and crops through Crop Protection and Seed Care. Planning, production execution and quality control of crop seeds such as Corn, Soybeans, Sunflowers and Alfalfa, he currently works primarily with growers of Vegetables, Tree Nuts, Fruit and Grapes. Prior experience in manufacturing and logistics with FedEx, SONY and Lennox. Shannon is a NAVY veteran working as an acoustic analysis in support of Pacific Fleet operations and exercise reconstructions. Shannon is a graduate of the University of Texas Arlington with a BS in Information Systems and currently holds Remote Pilot sUAS qualification.