Canadian Trade Delegation Visits Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Industry in Kansas

SALINA, KS -- The Kansas Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry served as hosts last week to an Unmanned Vehicle Systems (UVS) mission led by Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

While in Kansas, the Canadian UVS mission met with representatives from a number of organizations, including the Kansas National Guard, Great Plains Joint Regional Training Center, the Kansas Department of Commerce, several private companies involved in UAS development, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, the University of Kansas, and Kansas State University. City stops included Salina and Lawrence, where much of the state's unmanned aerial system activity occurs, in addition to Topeka.

The Canadian delegation included Ethan Benso, Trade Commissioner from the Canadian Consulate General; Andrew Haswell, Senior Trade Policy Officer Foreign Affairs and International Trade; and representatives from the Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, the University of Calgary and Draganfly Innovations, of Saskatchewan.

"Kansas has quite an impressive UVS portfolio," says Trade Commissioner Benso. "There are certainly mutually beneficial opportunities that can be explored further and this is a great way to set the stage for ongoing efforts."

Benso indicated he planned to attend the Kansas UVS Symposium scheduled April 20-22 in Wichita at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

According to Dr. Kurt Barnhart, who directs K-State's UAS Program Office under his leadership of the university's Applied Aviation Research Center, the Canadians are interested in a number of areas including supporting the country's overseas military missions, patrolling its 5,500 miles of borders and Arctic exploration.

"The Canadians have a sophisticated unmanned industry and we would like to look for ways to work with them as K-State Aviation's UAS Program Offices develops the processes for integrating unmanned vehicles into the North American air space where piloted flight occurs," says Barnhart, who spearheaded the Kansas visitation.