Building teams for Technology startups is as much art as it is science – as these companies need to move and scale quickly, and because of that, sometimes key roles are recruited with a focus only on the technical skills and with less emphasis on the culture and creative capabilities.
In Episode 3, Curtis (and yes he is a Millennial) gets right to the point as to why he joined the Team, and on his understanding that everyone’s roles and capabilities may shift – especially in the creation of new technology to service an unmet need for emergency and first responders in the area of logistics. Curtis understands that it is all hands on deck to arriving at solutions.
He shares behind the scenes, some of the technology and approaches using AI and Drones to enhance the real time communications from disaster sites to the First Responders – in scenarios such as wild fires, whether it be in Fort McMurray, Alberta or in the Santa Ana Hills in California, or floods in Calgary, Alberta or in New Orleans, Lousiana.
When they do development and testing in the field of their technologies, the entire team rolls up their sleeves to make it happen. Curtis plays a key role in the IT strategy of what and how you collect and use data, and for each client sector they service. So yes, AI is cool, but humans as you can see are critical to the design and critical thinking in helping the Team make key decisions.
Stay tuned for the next Episode on “Behind the Rise of Drones”, and what it takes to design and build drones!
Curtis Engerdahl
Curtis is the IT Manager for Pegasus Imagery. He brings his strong analytical and problem solving skills, leading company engagement and technical discussions with the company’s RF partner, a US-based defense and commercial leader in wireless communication technology. Under his leadership as President of NAIT’s Business Analyst Club, saw membership grow from start to over 250 students and 25 major technology companies. Curtis brings his University of Alberta Computer Sciences education, and is a graduate of NAIT IT Business Analysis (Dean’s Honor Roll 4.0 GPA).
About Cole Rosentreter CD
Cole is the Founder and CEO of Pegasus Imagery. He aattended the Silicon Valley Draper University pre-accelerator in 2018. Pegasus placed first amongst 80 companies from 22 countries, and was voted as “Most Investible” by the Bay area audience at the final pitch event. Cole’s military background and experience includes an award of the Canadian Forces’ Decoration(CD) having served after 15 years with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and the Brigade Commander’s Commendation for leadership in reshaping Canadian Army aerial resupply capability and doctrine. His military deployments have taken him to S. Afghanistan, Poland, and in training and exchanges with US airborne and special operations units, and Brazilian special forces. Cole medically retired at the rank of Sergeant in June 2018.
About Pegasus Imagery
Pegasus Imagery delivers intelligence and data solutions to the Emergency Management and Public Safety sectors. Pegasus provides cost effective solutions that bridge the capability gaps and limitations of collecting real time scalable data through use of 1) cost-prohibitive military aircraft and satellites , 2) limitations of manned aviation, and 3) emerging commercial drone services. To bridge the gap, Pegasus develops and deploys long endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, integrated with high capability sensors to provide continuous collection of actionable information, and delivers it directly using secure military-grade radio transmission in real time in-flight data for immediate analysis and decision making by first responders and emergency managers.
In disaster reconnaissance and Search and Rescue, even in low visibility conditions that ground manned aircraft, Pegasus enables emergency management to immediately define potential hazards 24/7.
In public safety, the company goes beyond the capabilities of manned aviation to provide scale to cover growing communities – monitoring city infrastructure, public events and roadways longer and at lower costs than current solutions.
In detecting wildfires Pegasus is able to cover and monitor the vast expanses where wildfires normally begin and once detected, is able to remain overhead to provide real-time updates on fire locations where a rapid response is able to be effectively conducted – bridging the gap of static observation towers, infrequent and expensive manned aerial patrols and the reliance on public notifications (for public safety).
