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We talk with the founder and CEO of a startup that is providing commercial UAS services for precision agriculture and other industries.
Guest
Eileen Shibley is the founder and CEO of Monarch, Inc. Monarch designs, engineers, and manufactures unmanned commercial aerial systems for the agriculture, energy, and land survey industries. Eileen incorporated Monarch, Inc. in 2014, and her team began providing customers with small UAS for the purposes of high tech aerial mapping.
Monarch uses a combination of robotic aircraft, unique cameras, and advanced software to provide customers with detailed maps of land and objects below. Monarch corporate headquarters, showroom, and factory are based in Ridgecrest, California.
Before founding Monarch, Eileen had a 30-year career with the U.S. Department of Defense where she was a strong advocate for unmanned systems in the Navy. She and her team created the world’s first integrated battle space (IBAR). She also served two assignments in Washington D.C. as China Lake’s liaison and advocate for technological advancement.
Discussion
We talk about the products and services that Monarch provides, the industries it supports, and the hardware and software being developed and used by the Monarch team. Eileen explains how she was involved in the project to have California designated as one of the six FAA UAS test sites, and when that was unsuccessful, how Monarch came to be formed out of the passion for the emerging industry.
Eileen tells us about her experience obtaining a Section 333 exemption from the FAA for precision agriculture. Monarch has also received Certificate of Waiver Authorizations (COAs) to operate their quadcopters within a California State Park in order to research and map an historical site:
Eileen offers her thoughts on “rogue” operators who offer commercial services without benefit of proper FAA authorization. Monarch actively works to grow community awareness and we touch on training and on industry self-regulation vs. being regulated by others. Eileen also provides some advice for those thinking about starting a business that uses UAVs as a tool.
Mentioned
These beginner books can help you select your first quadcopter and learn to fly: