AUVSI's Unmanned Systems 2016

Jim Williams
FAA Regulatory Affairs Director
AURA Network Systems


As AURA’s Aviation Regulatory Affairs Director, Jim Williams leads AURA’s efforts to secure approval to utilize its network to provide command-and-control (C2) links for both crewed and uncrewed applications. Jim’s 40 plus years of aerospace-sector experience encompasses three decades of FAA service, including his tenure as Executive lead for the UAS Integration Office – charged with accomplishing safe, efficient, and timely integration of UAS technology into the National Airspace System. He also directed the agency’s Systems Engineering and Safety Directorate. Following his government stint, Jim worked with the global law firm, Dentons, and since then, has continued to provide technical counseling and regulatory and policy guidance to numerous industry stakeholders through his own consulting company. He co-chairs the RTCA Special Committee (SC-228) responsible for developing standards for C2 links necessary to control UAS and urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft. The Committee is also charged with developing detect and avoid and navigation standards for UAS and UAM systems. Prior to the FAA, Jim was a flight test engineer and a production liaison engineer for the Lockheed-Georgia Company’s C5, C-141, and C-130 programs. He also worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Mission Control during the initial flights of the U.S. Space Shuttle. He received his BA in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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