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OUR STORY
Amazed by birds that remain in the sky for days or even months, the founders of Shearwater were inspired by what would be possible if drones could do the same. From public safety to wildfire monitoring and disaster response, the applications were limitless. Drones could finally start to replace traditional aircraft in many applications, substantially reducing green house gas emissions and keeping human pilots out of harm's way. Shearwater was founded to make this a reality and the company decided to take its name from the shearwater bird, who migrates 64,000 kilometers a year, the longest animal migration ever recorded electronically.
WHO WE ARE
CHAD ARMSTRONG
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO
Chad Armstrong is a successful entrepreneur with a passion for devising novel solutions to challenging problems. Holding both an engineering degree from McGill University and an MBA from INSEAD, Chad has extensive experience in leadership positions. In 2012, he co-founded Evinance, an industry-leading clinical decision support company focused on improving the quality of care for cancer patients. As the CEO, he designed the strategies and led the development and commercialization of their platform until 2018 when it was acquired by Varian. Following the acquisition, Chad led Varian’s clinical decision support initiatives as Director of Product Management.
ALEXANDRE BOROWCZYK
CO-FOUNDER AND CTO
Holding a master's degree in aerospace engineering focused on guidance, navigation and controls systems, Alexandre has a proven track record in developing cutting-edge solutions. He has earned multiple wins at the International Aerial Robotics Challenge as well as a position in the 2016 DJI Developer Challenge finals. He strongly believes in the need and the potential of drones for good and is now committed to create technology that rises up to this challenge
OUR ADVISORS
TIMOTHY L. HEELY
REAR ADMIRAL,
U.S. NAVY (RET)
Tim Heely has over 40 years of professional experience with government and industry during his careers as a US Naval Aviator and in business. His positions in the U.S. Navy included Program Executive Officer for Naval Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO(U&W)) where he was responsible for the development, test, acquisition and support of all Navy and Marine Corps unmanned air vehicles and strike weapons.
JACK W. LANGELAAN
LEADING AUTONOMOUS SOARING EXPERT
Jack, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University, is a worldwide expert in the field of autonomous soaring.
With 93 published papers on autonomous flight, UAVs as well as vehicle dynamics and controls, Jack’s research is the guiding force behind Shearwater Aerospace.
DR. RICHARD REINER
SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
Dr. Richard Reiner is a serial entrepreneur and executive, investor, advisor, and Board member with many high-growth companies at the intersections of cybersecurity, blockchain, AI, and IoT.
He is Founding Partner at CC Stratus Capital, an innovative investment firm. He was previously Executive Chair of dfuse, the leading blockchain big data platform (acquired by The Graph) and Chair of Cybeats, the IoT endpoint security company (acquired by Relay Medical). He was previously CTO - Safe Identity in Intel's Security Group, and VP Safe Identity at McAfee.
NICHOLAS RJ LAWRANCE
AUTONOMOUS AERIAL VEHICLES EXPERT
Nicholas is a seasoned academic with upwards of 30 academic publications and over 17 years of research in technology relating to autonomous soaring, unmanned aerial vehicles, machine learning, and robotics. After completing his PhD in aerospace engineering focused on autonomous soaring flight for UAVs at the University of Sydney, he spent time at Oregon State University performing research for the Office of Naval Research and the Department of Energy.
INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT
2021 Montreal Cohort Member
Chosen for aerospace centred acceleration program
AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards finalist
Winner of one of two grants for innovative startups in aerospace
Named a Highly Commended Startup for the AIConics' 2020
"AI for Good" Award
Chosen for 2024 aerospace acceleration program