Team | Advanced Aircraft Company

Leadership Team

Paul AllenCEO

Paul has been a leader in the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry since 2009. Most of his focus has been on top line growth for Insitu, Inc. (a Boeing subsidiary), Iris Automation, and, most recently, AgEagle. Paul has vast UAS experience with Defense customers in all branches of the The United States military as well as with many of our allies around the world. Along with the extensive defense experience Paul also has years of experience working with enterprise UAS end-users including companies like ConocoPhillips and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. A key driver to Paul’s commercial successes has been his efforts in shaping the UAS regulatory environment: he led the team that earned the first UAS Type Certification (14 CFR 21.25) on a Group II UAS, with one of those UAS now residing in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

Bill FredericksCTO & Chairman

Bill Fredericks is an accomplished aircraft designer who has designed dozens of aircraft, 12 of which have achieved first flight. His two most notable designs are the NASA Greased Lightning and he performed the first conceptual design of what is now called the NASA X-57 Maxwell, a manned aircraft. Fredericks was a valued Aeronautical Engineer while employed at the NASA Langley Research Center in the Aeronautics Systems Analysis Branch. He is the lead inventor on the Greased Lightning patent and led the project from its conceptual design through its successful flight testing.

Bill Fredericks graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He is also a former artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 with a rocket artillery battery (HIMARS).

Aaron FrankCOO

Aaron is an advisor to early stage startups and focuses on maximizing value proposition, story discovery, optimizing go to market strategies and business models, and securing powerful strategic partners. Mr. Frank is the CEO and Co-Founder of Deliver-EZ, a last mile Logistics as a Service company and “airport” for deployment of autonomous delivery vehicles. His previous role was CEO of a drone delivery company in Silicon Valley that had a proprietary format for handling a multitude of package types. While at a funded startup, Aaron focused on international JV efforts and headed up UAS solutions, where he led the design of a prototype drone services platform for Airbus to monetize data streams and integrate air traffic management. Aaron led two small businesses, one an interstate logistics firm, through the 2008 crisis with successful exits. He earned his MBA from New York University Stern School of Business and his B.S. Finance from Colorado State University.

Advisors

Matt RedfernAdvisor

Mr. Redfern was named President and CEO of Power Ten, Inc. by the Board of Directors January 1st, 2018. Before stepping into the role of President/CEO, Mr. Redfern served as the Director of Aviation Training Systems in addition to his role as Director of Power Ten, Inc.’s Services Department. Mr. Redfern is a former senior-level Marine Corps officer with over 30 years of extensive experience in aviation organizational and program management. He served as the subject matter expert and principal advisor to the Commander of Naval Air Forces on all Marine Aviation training, readiness, and budgetary issues. He has commanded and led medium-to-large aviation units and as the Chief of Staff of Third Marine Aircraft Wing (3D MAW) with over 16,000 personnel and 535 aircraft, he oversaw the training of three Aircraft Carrier squadron deployments, eight squadron deployments to Japan, seven Marine Expeditionary Unit deployments, and the deployment of one-third of the Wing assets and over 5000 personnel to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as the Chief of Staff for 3D MAW(Fwd) in Al ASad, Iraq, where he supervised the combat operations, personnel and maintenance readiness for the F/A-18, AV-8B, KC-130, CH-53E, CH-46, UH-1N, AH-1W, RQ-7B Shadow and Scan Eagle UAS aircraft. During his career, he served as the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) Aviation Combat Element Commander, a Program Manager, Operational Test Director, Presidential Helicopter Pilot, Quality Assurance Officer, and a Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One Division Head and Instructor Pilot. Program Management Level I Certified from the Defense Acquisition University, he is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, the Marine Corps University Command and Staff College and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Michael D. Folgate Advisor

Mr. Michael D. Folgate – A senior executive with strong analytical and communication skills, he is widely recognized for his ability to lead, mentor, develop and drive large organizations to success on limited budgets and resources. During the last 30 years, he served in senior leadership positions within the military and oversaw business development efforts within industry that focuses on the broader Department of Defense.

• For the last four years, he was the Business Development Executive of Marine Corps programs for Insitu, Inc. He led all corporate Marine Corps Business Development efforts, maintaining and developing trusted partner relationships within Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation, UAS Program and Capability Development leadership teams and liaison with fleet commanders. He also worked closely with Boeing Defense Directors and Autonomous Systems executives to incorporate Insitu products into Boeing opportunities.

• Encompassing the last ten years as a Power Ten executive, he supported Insitu in the areas of analysis, proposal capture and business development, specifically advising executive leadership, Program Directors and VP staffs throughout the development and management of the USMC RQ-21 Blackjack Program. He led both competition and strategy teams and teamed in proposal efforts which resulted in the capture of numerous major contracts and awards. He is a Subject Matter Expert within the Unmanned Aerial Systems industry with a focus on developing strategies to win business and bring the best support possible to military customers.

• Prior to transitioning from the Marine Corps to industry, Mr. Folgate had a 20 year distinguished career in aviation as an F/A 18D Weapons Systems Officer. Highlights of his military career included command of a Marine Fighter Attack Squadron, Chief of Staff of a Marine Air Group, squadron Executive and Operations Officer assignments. He has developed an international perspective having deployed worldwide for durations up to a year more than ten times throughout his career and globally amassed 3500 F/A 18 flight hours, which included five combat tours.

Mr. Folgate is a graduate of the Marine Corps’ Command and Staff College; graduate of the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School of Aviation Safety; Program Management Level I Certified from the Defense Acquisition University; certified as a Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute; United States Marine Corps Lean Six Sigma – Green Belt Trained. Mr. Folgate earned a BS in Mathematics Education from Oregon State University.

Kimberly PennAdvisor

Kimberly is known as the High Tech Maven and is the Founder and President of Webtropolis, a 28-year old boutique technology consulting firm specializing in technical audits, risk mitigation strategies, disaster preparedness and recovery. She also founded two corporations specializing in drone technology and audio/video in addition to IoT technology. As a business accountability coach and highly regarded maven she has advised and consulted with over 30+ startups and founders including leading a number of those organizations to major funding cycles. Kimberly is the Chief Strategist for Women and Drones (W&D) a global and leading membership organization dedicated to achieving equity and participation of women in UAS and eVTOL industries. She is a Homeland Security Startup Studio Entrepreneur at FedTech, where she employs her expertise in meeting our nation’s Homeland Security needs.

Jason LeeAdvisor

Jason Lee is the founder and Chief Scientist of Threat Playbook, a consultancy for developing solutions to using science to interdict security threats to companies and governments. Mr. Lee has 25 years as a career counterintelligence analyst. He is renowned as only a handful of national experts in a specialized field known as Scientific and Technical Intelligence. Jason most recently spent 15 years with the FBI, rising to the Bureau’s highest-ranking intelligence analyst executive. He served tours of duty at the CIA and ODNI’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency. Jason is the co-author of the book Fraud Casebook: Lessons from the Bad Side of Business. Mr Lee holds business and security administration degrees from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and Johns Hopkins University respectively.

Carl MakinsAdvisor

Carl Makins is the founder and owner of Shadow Tech, a company that consults on UAS operations and procedures for commercial purposes. He has over 33 years of experience as a military explosive ordnance disposal technician with a strong background in robotics. Carl has multiple deployments as an explosive expert. He has an extensive civilian law enforcement background, including UAS operations with multiple UAS platforms. He is a SWAT operator, Open Water Scuba Diver Instructor, Clandestine Lab Technician, Firearms Instructor, Canine Instructor, and a CFR 107 UAS Pilot. He helps develop UAS unit protocols for law enforcement agencies. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School with a master’s degree in Homeland Security. Carl also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and an Associate Degree in Business Management. Carl is presently working on his private pilot license.