A highlight of any USC-STC conference is our Annual Awards ceremony.
This year was no exception.
The USC-STC Organizational Award went to DJI, for its outstanding work behind-the-scenes to ensure that many of its RPAS aircraft satisfied new Transport Canada requirements in 2019. It was terrific to have Romeo Durscher, DJI’s Director of Public Safety Integration, at #UC19Ottawa to receive the award in person.
You can read the release , and a downloadable version is here.
PIP RUDKIN AWARD
For key Industry contributors, we also have an Individual Contributor award, named for the late Pip Rudkin. This year’s recipient was NAV CANADA’s Sylvie Lemay, and USC-STC awarded Sylvie for her outstanding contribution to the RPAS field. You can see the release below, and download it here.
STUDENT AWARDS
As usual, USC-STC took the time to encourage young students in this field. The $2500 Mark Cuss scholarship was presented, as well as cash prizes for Best Technical Paper and Best Presentation.
Congratulations, in order, go to: Jan Erik Naess from the University of Calgary, Callum Walter of Queens University, and Brendan Ooi of Carleton University.
The release is below, followed by a photo of (L-R) Brendan Ooi, Presenter (and a former winner!) Dr. Iryna Borshchova from NRC, and Callum Walter.
USC-STC Release- Student Awards 
TRIBUTE TO MARK ARUJA
Finally, there was a heartfelt tribute to outgoing Chair Mark Aruja, who served USC-STC for four years – two, two-year terms. Mark has been a true champion for this industry, working closely with regulators, service providers – and many, many others – as he has worked hard to push the Unmanned envelope.
He’s knowledgeable, passionate – and terrific with a microphone.
Thank you, Mark. From all of us.
