AUVSI's Unmanned Systems 2016

Robert Curtin
Vice President
AeroVironment


Mr. Curtin has held numerous engineering and manager positions at AeroVironment for over 35 years; he is currently Director of Business Development for large unmanned aircraft programs. Mr. Curtin has been involved with over 35 lightweight vehicle projects, requiring fabrication, design, stress analysis, performance analysis, computer programming, material testing, flight testing, and project/production management. His division of AeroVironment specializes in the development and production of electrically-propelled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Examples on the small end of the spectrum are the Raven, Pointer, and Dragon Eye, which his division produces for SOCOM, US Army, and Marines. On the large end of the spectrum is the high-altitude, long-endurance, solar-powered UAV called Helios. Helios established an altitude record of 96,863 feet and is currently the world’s highest-flying, non-rocket propelled aircraft. For 10 years, Mr. Curtin was the program manager for the NASA Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. During this period, he managed the Pathfinder Flight Test Series and performed as a Flight Director. In 1996 Mr. Curtin was a recipient of the Aviation Week Laurel Award for his role in the development of Pathfinder, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1997. Also, under his leadership Pathfinder attained a world record altitude of 80,200 feet in 1998. In the mid 1980s, Mr. Curtin, managed the production AeroVironment’s Pointer hand-launched UAV. Under his guidance, approximately 100 Pointer aircraft were delivered to the US Army and Marines and the AeroVironment Pointer program was awarded the U.S. Defense Department's Total Quality Management Award.

Sessions :