Talk about starting an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) (a/k/a “drone”) program is happening at companies of all sizes, but establishing the right foundations to ensure these kinds of programs don’t fail is far less pervasive. At DJI AirWorks 2018, Kestrel Consultant, Industrial UAS Programs, Rachel Mulholland’s presentation, “Bringing Your Drone Program to Scale: Lessons Learned from Going Big” laid out what it means to achieve success and avoid failure with the technology.

Commercial UAV News recently caught up with Rachel to further discuss her presentation, which focused on UAS applications for infrastructure, explored why UAS programs fail, and detailed the foundations of a successful drone program. In the published interview, she details some of her lessons learned from out in the field, what it means to deal with positive and negative assumptions people have about the technology, why it is so important to have a UAS Program Operations Manual, and much more.

Read the full interview in Commercial UAV News, and learn more about Kestrel’s UAS Program Management services.