Team Leaders

Mr. Karr has more than 25-years of corporate and financial executive management experience that includes executive level corporate financial analysis; strategic planning; organizational structure; marketing; capital raises; mergers & acquisitions; and corporate negotiations. His corporate experience includes positions as Regional Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank’s San Jose Commercial Banking Group that services middle market lending activities for Santa Clara County and Santa Cruz markets; and President & Chief Executive Officer for First Commercial Bank located Sacramento. Additionally, Mr. Karr performed duties as chief operations officer, and management consultant for various companies. During the past 7-years, Mr. Karr has directed the activities to build and position Dronitek as the premiere UAS training company through the development of 7-advanced industry specialty courses and to build a training team of nationally recognized UAS Subject Matter Experts.

Mr. Weidman holds an Associate of Science degree in Computer Technology; Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science; Master’s degree in International Relations; CA POST certificate; FAA Remote Pilot certificate. FLIR Level 1 UAS certification in Thermography; as well as multiple FAA Part 107 Certificates of Wavier. Additionally, Doug is Pix4d certificated and training specific to collision reconstruction utilizing UAS. Mr. Wiedman is a retired Deputy Sheriff and a current law enforcement Remote Pilot with extensive experience in training and developing UAS programs for public safety. He is a UAS pilot instructor and Subject Matter Expert (SME) to 28-regional agencies located in 4-counties that include several California State agencies. He has trained hundreds of students and assisted multiple public safety agencies in developing their own training programs including night operations. Mr. Weidman has been utilizing DJI hardware and software since 2009, including the original DJI Naza GPS flight systems and early flame wheel RTB aircraft. He owns numerous DJI RTF systems including Phantom 1, 2, 3, 4, (multiple variations of each), Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Mavic 2, Mavic Enterprise Dual, Inspire-1 (X3, X5, and XT cameras), Inspire-2 (X4s, X5s), Matrice 210 (dual operator), Z30, XT, XT2, Matrice 600Pro (X5, Z30, XT2), including DJI RTK and the installation of aftermarket gimbals, cameras (Sony A7 iii) as well as triple drop systems. Mr. Weidman is working with a team that specializes in conflict archeology. Most recently, this team completed a LIDA /virtualization project of the USS Iowa for The Battleship Museum for the City/Port of Los Angeles.

Mr. King is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He reported for active duty as a B-52H copilot to the 20th Bombardment Squadron at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. He advanced to senior positions in the United States Air Force (USAF) including a competitive selection to the elite U-2 training program. Upon completion of this program, Brandon became a U-2 pilot and flew reconnaissance missions in Korea, the Mt. Pinatubo Volcanic eruption, Iraq, Libya, and the Soviet Union. Mr. King advanced to the position of Assistant Director of Operations of the U-2 Formal Training Unit (FTU) and later became the Director of Operations for this unit. He authored training syllabuses including the U-2 Basic Qualification Training Course, U-2 Mission Qualification Training Course, and U-2 Senior Staff Training Course Syllabuses to name a few. Brandon assumed the command of Air Combat Command’s Training Support Squadron that supported all training operations for the U-2 aircraft weapon system including syllabi; academic courseware and instruction; and computer-based and simulator training. Mr. King completed his UASF active duty and joined the Air Force Reserves as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) assigned to Detachment 11 where he served as a U-2 Subject Matter Expert (SME). He joined Southwest Airlines as a B737 First Officer after his retirement from the USAF and continues to serve in that position.

Mr. Granados has 10 years of experience in small Unmanned Aerial System flight operations. He is retired as a Deputy Sheriff after serving 25-years in law enforcement. Bill served as an instructor and was involved in various law enforcement disciplines including Vehicle Collision investigations, Motorcycle and Vehicle operations, and the use of LIDAR for law enforcement activities. Mr. Granados is an FAA CFR14 licensed Remote Pilot who has more than 400-hours of flight time on an array of UAS drone platforms. He recently developed a training program and Standard Operating Procedures for a company to expand its business operations to perform power line and tower inspections using UAS aircraft and third-party data processing systems to produce end user reports that are used to make informed maintenance and repair decisions.

Mr. Swift is an accomplished UAS pilot with more than 120-hours of flight time and 800+ flight missions. He is employed full-time as a Sacramento Deputy Sheriff and is the Lead Pilot for the Sheriff Department’s UAS Unit. As Lead Pilot, Mr. Swift is responsible for day-to-day operations, mission planning, pilot training, and much more. He has an extensive background in adult training with years of experience teaching in service for Deputy Sheriffs and Police Academy Students. Mr. Swift has advanced experience with DJI, Autel, Skydio, and Parrot ecosystems. Most of his flight time is logged on UAS Enterprise Level Aircraft.

Mr. Wyman has been involved in all stages of Production Agriculture for the past 11-years including row crop seed production; introduction of new GMO traits; crop protection and seed care including planning; production execution and quality control of crop seeds such as corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and alfalfa. He has prior experience in manufacturing and logistics with FedEx, Sony, and Lennox. Shannon is a Navy veteran as an acoustic analyst in support of Pacific Fleet operations and exercise reconstructions. He holds FAA Private and Remote Pilot licenses and is a graduate of the University of Texas Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in information systems.

Mr. Gifford is a Public Safety UAV Subject Matter Expert (SME) and holds bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Applied BioTech, as well as a Fire Science degree. Ryan holds an FAA Remote Pilot certificate and multiple FAA Part 107 Certificates of Waiver. He specializes in over-water UAV Search and Rescue; payload delivery; and guidelines, policy, and program development. Mr. Gifford is a Captain, Paramedic, and UAV Program Manager with one of the largest fire agencies in Sacramento; coordinator for the Sacramento Regional UAV Operators Group comprised of 33-regional Law and Fire agencies across 4-counties in the greater Sacramento Region, including several California State agencies. He has presented to, and trained, public safety UAV pilots in many parts of the country and has assisted multiple public safety agencies in developing their own UAS training programs. Additionally, Ryan is a regular speaker at major UAS events throughout the country.

Mr. Hill is the owner of AntiGravity Aerial Production company which specializes in aerial cinematography, filmmaking, promotional highlight videos, and photography since 2014. He built an all-encompassing platform that highlights all aspects of a property for commercial use and marketing promotions. He is an expert in the use of Adobe Premiere Pro. His video production reels include special events, real estate, agriculture, construction, insurance claims, solar panel companies, storage facilities, and much more. His advanced understanding of photogrammetry; video production; artistic talents; and passion for training others provide the highest level of instruction and learning for students attending Dronitek’s UAS cinematography certification course.

Mr. Mathieson holds a master’s degree in Education with 27 years of teaching experience at the junior high and high school levels. He is a graduate of El Camino Junior College Fire Academy and has an Associate Degree in Airfield Management from the Community College of the Air Force. Mr. Mathieson has served 20 years in the USAF Reserves as a qualified LoadMaster on both the C-141 Star Lifter and C-17 Globe Master. He has close to 2,000 hours of flying time with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and flew humanitarian missions to Thailand and Haiti after devastating earthquakes. He trained as a Combat Photographer and served a 3-year period with the 4th Combat Camera Division. He is currently a volunteer with the Air Force Auxiliary (Civil Air Patrol) Squadron 150 where he holds the rank of Captain and servers as an aerial photographer on search and rescue missions.

Mr. Thach is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara where he earned a degree in Film and Media Studies. He has extensive experience and is an expert remote pilot who started in the UAS industry in 2013 flying quadcopters. He has five years of experience as a drone and RC vehicle repair technician. In 2015, Mr. Thach joined the Toyota Ever Better Tour Team where he traveled over 10,000 miles in 3-countries capturing Toyota vehicle drone footage for engineer testing. Mr. Thach joined Sanmeipro LLC in 2019 where he is the lead pilot and organizer for Intel’s Drone Light Show worldwide including shows in Tokyo Japan, Maldives, Malaysia, Ireland, Costa Ria, and Saudi Arabia (San speaks/is fluent in 3-languages). These shows feature more than 900-drones that fly amazing flight patterns simultaneously. Additionally, he assumed the role of a lead trainer where he mentors third-party operators on the use of the Intel Light Show system.

Mr. Tarver has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and is a retired law enforcement officer after 27-years of service. He is a Board-Certified Protection Professional and is recognized internationally as a security expert. Mr. Tarver is a member of the InfraGard National Members Alliance which specializes in infrastructure protection throughout the United States. Additionally, he is an Executive Board Member, Chair, and Sector Chief Council for Sacramento InfraGard Chapter. He is FAA 14 CFR Part 107 certified licensed Remote Pilot, Part 107 Recurrent, and TRUST Certified. He owns and operates a UAS company that provides drone services to clients in California.