Vanguard Magazine

40 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 www.vanguardcanada.com See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry and how has it brought you to where you are today? I was fortunate enough as a farm boy to discover the "work for education" option provided by Royal Roads and RMC. That led me on a 22-year adventure in the mili- tary. I was privileged to serve both as an Armoured Officer and a RCEME officer. My first encounter with UAVs was 20 years ago when the Canadian Army made me responsible for its UAV program. Post-retirement I had the opportunity to create and lead, as a volunteer, Cana- da's non-profit national association, Un- manned Systems Canada. My passion for UAVs led me to create my company with a focus on engineering support to ISTAR systems and when the opportunity to pre- sented itself, to pivot the company into UAV operations in support of CAF opera- tions in Afghanistan. Q What is your role at your organization today? Founder, chief executive and chief technol- ogy officer of ING Robotic Aviation Inc. Q What was your most challenging moment? Being an entrepreneur has been described as leaping from an airplane, naked, and building your parachute on the way down. I think that pretty well describes my life as a leader in this exponentially growing sector. Q What was your a-ha moment? It was four in the morning in October 2008. It was my first trip to Kandahar. I was standing outside the Big-Ass Tent (BAT) waiting to travel out to our UAV site and get ready for the mission of the day - which was providing UAV ISR for a Canadian convoy as it traveled out to a FOB. I exchanged a glance with a convoy commander when he looked down from his LAV hatch. That was when it hit me. All of my work over the intervening 12 years had culminated in this day. At a time when Canadians were dying and being injured routinely my ING UAV team, with our partners in the SUAS troop, 4 AD had changed his world for the better with this unseen airborne Angel flying persistent over watch for his convoy as it traveled its perilous path outside the wire. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? The most exciting thing for me is when I get to engage with the next generation. Currently, with our partner, the non-prof- it ACTUA, we are bringing education in robotic aircraft to kids across the Cana- dian arctic as part of a STEM program. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? Continuous curiosity. I am a voracious consumer of information across a wide spectrum from global politics to econom- ics to technology. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Keep challenging the status quo of your organization to see if it is time to reinvent to maintain relevance in the world. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? "Innovation Nations" like Israel. Google X, Facebook, and Amazon and a number of Chinese companies are the ones driving global innovation. Questions about InG Aviation Robotics Q How is your organization chang- ing the game within your industry sector? ING is focused on operations in harsh conditions... otherwise known as flying in all of Canada all year round. We are bringing the knowledge we gained sup- porting CAF operations in Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean to the industrial drone space. Q What are some of the biggest im- pediments to innovation in our industry sector? Defence and security procurement con- tinues to be challenged when it comes to acquiring capability that is evolving rap- idly - like UAVs. People have yet to imagine the impact of these capabilities on their day-to-day lives. But that is changing quickly. ian Glenn fOundEr and ChiEf ExECutivE OffiCEr InG RobotIc avIatIon Inc.

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