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Aerial Achievement Awards  

Celebrating the saves, wins, and heroic feats of our customers in their every day work.

Submit an award nomination

The Aerial Achievement Awards were created to show the world the incredible work achieved with Skydio drone programs, giving recognition to those who are doing big things.

Congratulations to our winners

Award Category:
Program Excellence
Oklahoma City Police Department

Oklahoma City Police Department has achieved remarkable progress and scale with their drone program over the past few years, and recently became the first agency to successfully run a dock-based drone as a first responder program at the Oklahoma State Fair in September 2023 and again in 2024. The immense work Captain Bussert and Sgt. Dax Laporte have done to reach this stage of their drone program speaks to their passion for drone use in public safety to improve community and officer safety with the help of innovative technologies.

Award Category:
Program Excellence
American Electric Power

American Electric Power is a leader in drone program excellence. With the nation's largest electricity transmission system at nearly 39,000 miles, AEP has a ton of ground to cover. The team at AEP has replaced traditional methods of inspection with drones, and now are moving into remotely operating drones and docked drones. This gives technicians the ability to inspect assets from their office, and respond immediately to system failures. They are reducing outages for their customers, reducing operational costs and providing staff with safer working conditions.

Award Category:
Lifesaving Achievements
Orange County Sheriff’s Office

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office helped save a man experiencing severe mental instabilities in an Orlando high-rise hotel. The individual was screaming and threatening to harm himself. He then set a fire in the hotel room. OCSO deployed an X10 to see inside the hotel room from a window, providing officers on the ground intel on the individual’s location and status. With this intel, officers were able to break into the room safely, apprehend the suspect and provide him with medical care.

Award Category:
Achievements in Innovation
CalTrans

As part of the USDOT Smart Program, Caltrans prototyped, tested, and successfully deployed a completely off-grid X2 Dock system at a site near the California/Mexico border. This site, to our knowledge, was the first of its kind to rely 100% on solar power, and Starlink for connectivity. This type of innovation sets the stage for off-grid applications across the state of California, allowing for semi-portable, scaled, dock based UAS operations for numerous applications — including construction, bridge inspection, environmental, geotechnical monitoring, and traffic operations missions.

Award Category:
Achievements in Innovation
New York City Police Department

Since starting their drone program with Skydio in 2023, NYPD has set a remarkable precedent for the future of Smart Cities and modern policing. NYPD has become a fully operational Drone as First Responder (DFR) program, with a dedicated team now conducting 24/7 remote operations across the city. Overcoming significant challenges such as obtaining FAA waivers and executing extensive test operations, NYPD has established a robust framework for drone operations that serves as a model for law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Award Category:
Achievements in Innovation
Dominion Energy

Thomas Butler “TF”, UAS Manager, and Matt Rogers, Operations Leader for Dominion Energy led the rapid installation of three sites within just four weeks of delivery of drones and docks, along with the fast-tracking of essential waivers. They have plans in place to deploy 15 additional Skydio dock solutions.They’re leveraging our solutions across asset inspection, emergency response, feeder inspection, and security patrol. Their vision positions them as true innovators and leaders in the utility industry.

Award Category:
Best New Program of the Year
Chicago Police Department

Chicago Police Department scaled their drone program from 0 flights 6 months ago, to now almost daily flights and drone deployment during the Democratic National Convention. One person in particular to recognize from CPD is Marcus Buenrostro, who has led the UAS program from day 1 — organizing the onboarding, training, defining policies and implementation of drones within CPD. CPD is actively scaling their program to incorporate live streaming and plans to add 6 pilots to their team in the next few months.

Award Category:
From Flight to Insight
BNSF Railway

BNSF was one of the first adopters of Skydio’s S2 as a tool for asset inspection in 2019. That effort evolved into a full scale production of dock-based asset inventory and protection program with dozens of systems deployed across the US. The BNSF program has made substantial impacts to many UAS programs across the nation. Many team members from the original program have gone on to lead efforts at Amazon Prime Air, Virginia Tech, Aerolane and more.

Award Category:
Best Use of Autonomy
Pacific Gas & Electric

This nomination is for PG&E’s work as one of the largest and most advanced drone-based equipment inspection programs in the world. They were the first utility in California to conduct fully remote drone operations for electric system inspections and continue to scale their daily operations with automated inspection missions. PG&E deserves to be recognized for how they automate data capture in the field, providing a triple advantage of increased system, operator, and community safety; reduced time and resources; and cost savings.

Award Category:
Social Impact
New York Power Authority

Over the past year, NYPA has hosted their own annual STEM education summer camp, hosted multiple local schools as well as Boys & Girls Clubs. They are by far one of the most proactive advocates of youth drone education within enterprise companies that are utilizing drones. Peter Kalaitzidis and the team at NYPA are invested in sharing their work with the next generation and routinely make these outreaches a part of their job, not an exception.

2024 Aerial Achievement Award nominees

See how the world's most advanced aerial robotics are making a difference for some of the world's most respected companies and organizations.

Akron Police Department

American Electric Power

Anderson Police Department

BNSF Railway

CalTrans

Chicago Police Department

Colorado State University - Drone Center

your person holding a Skydio 2+

Dominion Energy

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office

MassDOT Aeronautics

child learning to fly a drone

New York City Police Department

New York City Police Department - Transit

New York Power Authority

Oklahoma City Police Department

Orange County Sheriff’s Office

Pacific Gas & Electric

Pasco County Sheriff’s Office

Sumner County EMA

Tulsa Fire Department

Submit an award nomination

Award Winner Experience

Person receiving Skydio award

Aerial Achievement
Award winners receive:

Skydio Award Trophy

a beautiful hand-casted Statuette, the symbol of Drone excellence

Industry Recognition

Celebration at Skydio Ascend Awards Spotlight

Skydio For All charitable donation

Donation the winner’s selected community organization subject to applicable policy and regulation.

Award Categories

Program Excellence
Lifesaving Achievements
Best New Program of the Year
Achievements in Innovation
Best Use of Autonomy
Social Impact
From Flight to Insight
Row of Skydio people smiling

The Aerial Achievement Awards are for those who take on the monumentous challenge of building a safer, better future with Skydio technology.

...and we applaud you.

Entry Information

Submission process

01

Pick your
biggest win

02

03

Entries are
evaluated

04

Winners are selected
and recognized

Submit an award nomination

Entry requirements

Entry Brief:
Award nominations should include a story description illustrating how you or other customers have used their suite of Skydio products to improve outcomes in the field. Whether saving time, saving lives or serving the community — we want to hear all of the gritty details.

Person arm holding drone

Video / Audio Submission:
Entries must include Skydio camera footage or other supporting media. Submitted content must be suitable for unrestricted publication and use by Skydio.

Two policemen using drone controller

Eligibility

Nominations for Skydio Aerial Achievement Awards are open to any organization or person who uses a Skydio drone (any model) to improve outcomes in their field of work.

  • Video footage or still imagery of the event is required for winner(s)
  • Event must have occurred within the last two years
  • Event must be qualified and approved for external publication and celebration
Submit and award nomination
Masonry grid of people using drones

*Participants attest that they are eligible to participate based on their local jurisdiction, and as applicable, their agency requirements. Skydio is committed to following and implementing necessary measures to ensure compliance with all applicable requirements.

Questions?

FAQs

What are the Award Categories?

Examples of Skydio Award Categories may include but are not limited* to:

  • Program Excellence
  • Lifesaving Achievements
  • Best New Program of the Year
  • Innovation
  • Best Use of Autonomy
  • Social Impact
  • From Flight to Insight
Will more than one award be given per category?

Depending on the specific award and eligible nominations, and subject to Skydio’s sole discretion, more than one award may be granted per category.

How will the final Award winners be selected?

Award nominations will be reviewed by a panel of Skydio experts and executives.

How will nominees be notified of their nominations?

Nominees will be notified via email communications from Awards@Skydio.com

How will Award winners be notified of their Award?

Award winners will be announced at Ascend 2024, during the Customer Awards Spotlight taking place on September 26, 2024 in Santa Cruz County, CA. This event will also be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.

How many times can an agency or individual be nominated?

There is no limit to the number of nominees any one agency, organization or individual can receive.

Can a nominee receive multiple awards?

Yes, there is no limit to the number of Awards an individual or Agency may receive.

Do I have to submit photos or videos with my nomination?

Photos or videos are required in order for nominees to be selected as winners. Photo or video assets should help to support the story of the nomination and can include but are not limited to, Skydio Drone footage of the incident, body cam or other peripheral video content of the nominated event, headshot or profile image of the nominated individual or other supplemental content such as news media that helps depict the story or profile of the nomination.

Does the content associated with a nomination need to be approved for external use?

Yes, all content submitted as part of the Award nomination process must be approved for external use and promotion.

Can Skydio use the content associated with a nomination even if it is not selected for an Award?

Yes, Skydio may use the content associated with a nomination even if it is not selected for an Award so as to provide the nominee with Industry recognition for their achievements.

When does the nomination period end?

The Aerial Achievement Awards is an evergreen Awards program. Nominees for the 2024 Ascend Customer Awards Spotlight will be accepted through August 30, 2024.

Nominees submitted after August 30, 2024 will be considered for recognition in the following year.


Not seeing the answers you’re looking for?
Please reach out to Awards@Skydio.com and our team will be happy to help!

Submit a Skydio Aerial Achievement Award nomination today.

Has your Skydio drone program saved lives, saved time, or helped to better serve your community? We want to hear about it.

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