Our Background
Founded in 2016, Pierce Aerospace began developing UAS Remote Identification solutions in 2017. The company began SBIR/STTR contracting with the USAF in 2018 and was further seeded by the State of Indiana, Techstars, Purdue Research Foundation, and angel investors. Along the SBIR/STTR journey, eleven US Government agencies joined the same SBIR contract, the most US Government agencies on a single SBIR in the 40+ year history of the program. That journey resulted in successful SBIR Phase I - Phase III conversions (X3) and the launch of commercially available products. The company's integrated Remote ID solutions are fine-tuned through rigorous US Military experimentation, proven in national security operations, and were awarded First Place in Remote ID technology by AUVSI.
Our name honors our family that worked hard to make sure their children always got the best education possible - whether they could afford it or not. Our name also honors PFC Weldon Pierce of the 30th Infantry Division. PFC Pierce survived the worst “friendly fire” incident in US Military history outside St. Lo, France in July 1944. PFC Pierce survived because he picked a lucky foxhole while being carpet bombed - twice. Modern combat is dominated by drones, and modern combat remains plagued by friendly fire. As a legacy of a fratricide survivor - we intend to do something about that with our products and capabilities.
Pierce Aerospace is a proud founding member of the joint FAA and Industry-led Drone Safety Team.
De profundis ad astra
“From the depths to the stars”
Pierce Aerospace develops world-leading solutions for UAS and low-altitude airspace monitoring.
Mission Statement
Pierce Aerospace is mission-driven to deliver innovative dual-use technologies, serving the government and commercial sectors with an end-user focus.
Our Values
We are mission-driven and aligned with our customers’ mission.
We are passionate about safety and security.
We perform our missions with integrity and honor.
Our strength is attributed to people. We cherish collaboration.
We foster creativity to fuel innovation.
We operate with a just culture.
Our People
Aaron Pierce | CEO & Co-founder
Mr. Pierce was the Entrepreneur in Residence for the first Techstars Air Force Accelerator program and has a background in public safety - including as a volunteer EMT & UH-1H Huey helicopter crewmember. He is a FAA certified Part 107 pilot with significant UAS operations and policy experience. He has mentored US Army Futures Command & SOCOM C-UAS hackathons & guest lectured at the Eisenhower School for National Security. He’s been twice nominated as Indiana’s Entrepreneur of the year, is a Mitch Daniels Leadership Fellow, participated in the FAA’s UAS Detection and Mitigation ARC, and serves on AUVSI’s Board of Directors. He holds a BA in English and an MS in GIS and Remote Sensing from Indiana University.
Chris Mailey | Senior Engineer
Mr. Mailey spent the last 20 years building and supporting robots and related technologies. He holds multiple robotics related patents from an underwater UAV launcher to a stair climbing personal robot. He graduated from Duke University with a BSEE and Virginia Tech with a MSEE. As a Navy civilian he programmed and supported multiple underwater robots including deployments to the Pacific Northwest, Atlantic Ocean, and the channel islands in southern California. Later assignments at the Office of Secretary of Defense and Navy OPNAV N2/N6 office focused on utilizing his subject matter expertise for funding next generation robotic capabilities for the US military. Chris is a former board member of AUVSI and loves career days at schools to talk to kids about robotics.
Krishna Patel | Business Associate
Ms. Patel covers business and finance roles at Pierce Aerospace while attending the IU Kelley School of Business. She has supported the team in with business systems integration, compliance, and operations. She’s passionate about finance and accounting, with a a focus on using data-driven insights to support informed decision-making.
Jerome Ferguson | Advisor - Business & Technology
Mr. Ferguson recently retired as the Director of Advanced Technologies at UPS where he was responsible for coordinating the exploration of Emerging Technology. He was the founder of the UPS Flight Forward UAV subsidiary. UPS Flight Forward Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS; focused on drone delivery. The company was formally launched in July 2019, and on October 1, 2019, became the first company to receive the FAA’s full Part 135 Standard certification, allowing the company to operate an unlimited remote-controlled drone delivery network in the United States.
Dr. Starnes Walker | Advisor - Science, Cyber, & US Government
Dr. Walker is the founding director of the University of Delaware Cyber Security Initiative, as well as former CTO and Technical Director for Cyber for the US Navy. He served in the senior executive service billet to standup the US Fleet Cyber Command and the US Navy’s 10th Fleet. He previously served as the DHS Director of Research with responsibility for the Office of National Laboratories, Office of University Programs, and DHS Centers of Excellence; including the department’s senior S&T leadership executive. Previously he served as the Office of Naval Research’s Executive Director overseeing ONR & NRL and earlier as the Associate Director for National Security at Argonne National Laboratory.
Gary Bullock | CTO & Co-founder
Mr. Bullock spent 37 years as a DOW applied research engineer after graduating from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with his Bachelor's of Engineering and an MSEE from New Orleans. During his time with the US Navy, he was the S&T Chair for several NAVSEA working groups and spent a good chunk of his career at NSWC Crane. His expertise covers modeling and simulation, acoustic and electromagnetic propagation, avionics, undersea warfare, sensor development and integration, and multi-domain unmanned systems. Notable achievements include being a certified acquisition professional and the initial fielding of life-saving counter-IED robots in Iraq.
Liam Hood | Pilot & Operations Coordinator
Mr. Hood is a FAA certified Private Pilot and Remote Pilot and supports Pierce Aerospace flight test operations and sensor deployments. He's a regular participant in the Drone Safety Team and presents on FAA Safety Team topics. Mr. Hood previously worked as a Remote Pilot for Deveron and as a UAS technician for the Indiana State University UMS Laboratory. He has significant UAS flight experience, including past experience as the Michigan Wing Director of Unmanned Operations in the Civil Air Patrol. He participated in CAP emergency response operations and UAS flight operations during hurricane disaster response in Puerto Rico. He holds a BS in Unmanned Systems from Indiana State University.
Samantha Brown | Executive Assistant
Ms. Brown brings a decade of experience in small business operations, renowned for her ability to drive projects to successful completion. As the former Operations Director for the Indiana Defense Network, Brown successfully coordinated diverse stakeholder groups, helped build the Defense Market Quickstart program and managed collaborative digital spaces in a secure and user-friendly manner. She’s been nominated for awards based on her leadership and skills in the development and execution of business systems and standard operating procedures. She serves as AUVSI Indiana’s President.
Michelle Duquette | Director
Ms. Duquette has a strong background in commercial airline and federal aviation operations and is well respected as one of the industry’s top UAS leaders and thinkers. At The MITRE Corporation, Duquette managed a multi-million-dollar research portfolio and counseled the FAA and DOW on technical advancements, security vulnerabilities, forecasting, and regulatory matters, while fostering government-industry collaboration. She is the founder and CEO of 3 MAD Air, a consultancy firm focused on UAS and AAM operations, civil-military integration, and public-private partnerships.
David Kervin | Advisor - Business, Capital, & Defense
Mr. Kervin is a technology executive with significant experience in buy and sell side private equity and venture capital. David holds executive positions at space startup Proteus Space & leading AI company Torch.AI. He led the public sector at Kymeta, a Bill Gates portfolio software driven metamaterials startup. At SRI International David oversaw $350M in advanced technology solutions for mission focused customers like DARPA, IARPA, DoD and DHS. He formerly served in the USMC in Infantry, SOF, Intelligence, joint duty, independent duty and Intelligence Community roles.
Larry Howard | CIO & Co-founder
Mr. Howard has 25 years of experience as a technical leader and manager of large software development efforts for payload and sensor integration into remotely operated land, air, and sea platforms for DOW situational awareness systems while working for the US Navy at NSWC Crane. Throughout his tenure, Mr. Howard has been passionate about making technology work for the user in the field and has been a founder in multiple efforts focused on human performance technology. Mr. Howard received a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and MS in Information Science from Indiana University.
Theo Mitz | Embedded Engineer
Mr. Mitz graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a BS in Computer Engineering. He previously interned at Rose-Hulman Ventures where he worked on Pierce Aerospace embedded engineering projects. Since joining Pierce Aerospace he demonstrated resourcefulness and a good sense of humor, most notably by spearheading development of a UI project for a national security customer with an urgent operational need. In addition to front-end development, he also focuses his efforts on developing low-level firmware, ensuring that Pierce Aerospace systems are as technically sound as they are easy to navigate.
Warren Katz | Director
Mr. Katz previously co-founded MÄK Technologies in 1990, a leader in the distributed simulation market, which was later acquired by VT Systems. He’s a champion of interoperability standards, having received numerous industry awards, and has since gone on to mentor, invest in, and lead initiatives that have helped shape a better industry-government business ecosystem. He previously served as the President of Neurala, a leading AI company, and currently advocates for policy improvement and reducing barriers for the private tech sector and small businesses to do business with the US Government.
John Pistole | Advisor - US Govt & Law Enforcement
Mr. Pistole was placed in charge of the FBI’s counter terrorism program after 9/11 and was later promoted to Deputy Director for the FBI, serving for nearly six years under Director Robert Mueller. In 2010 President Obama nominated Pistole as the Administrator for the Transportation Security Administration and he was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate. During his tenure he transformed the TSA into a risk-based and intelligence-driven agency. He holds a juris doctor degree in law from the Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University and currently serves as President of Anderson University.
Michael Collins | Engineer & Co-founder
Mr. Collins is a co-founder and engineer at Pierce Aerospace, where he leads R&D efforts across the company's full product suite. He is a co-inventor on patents covering systems for drone identification, identity verification, and authentication. His technical contributions span the Flight Portal 3D platform, Remote ID sensor suite, and broadcast modules, enabling real-time drone detection and tracking. His work supports deployments for government agencies, public safety organizations, and commercial operators across the United States. Previous experience includes Bluetooth EEG control code for brain wave analysis and multiple AI / ML image recognition projects.
Samuel Gross | Software Engineer
Mr. Gross graduated summa cum laude from Ball State University’s Computer Science program with a concentration in cybersecurity. As a senior intern with Pierce Aerospace, he was part of the team that built the first Flight Portal 3D prototype. Since joining Pierce Aerospace, he leads the development API services and front-end features. He has been pivotal in creating the current iteration of Flight Portal 3D.
Dr. Rebecca Decker | Advisor - Business & Defense
Dr. Decker serves as COO of Bluestaq, an enterprise software company specializing in secure data management platforms for the DOD and IC with contracts in excess of $300 million. Dr. Decker is operationally focused on culture, team development, and partnerships at Bluestaq. She previously launched the first tech accelerator in southern Colorado concentrated on space tech with the USAF. She was the first Executive Director of the Catalyst Campus and previously served in program management, engineering, & BD roles with companies such as Boeing, BAE, and General Atomics.
Charles Stotler | Advisor - Global Policy & Law
Mr. Stotler is Co-Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He teaches LL.M. courses on International Space Law, Cybersecurity Law and U.S. National Aviation Law. His research focuses on the effects of the fragmentation of international law on aerospace governance and on rule law for outer space activities. Charles also advises on law, policy and regulatory issues. He focuses on activities and technologies that push policy and regulatory boundaries. He’s followed Pierce Aerospace since first seeing Aaron Pierce present at ICAO in 2017.