Drone Radio Show

Matt McCrann is U.S. CEO of SPARC AI.  SPARC AI develops software that enables precision navigation and target acquisition for drones and autonomous systems operating in GPS-denied environments. Its flagship platform, Overwatch, is a software-only, hardware-agnostic solution that transforms the sensors already onboard a drone into a resilient positioning system—without requiring additional hardware. The platform also supports detection, tracking, and multi-drone coordination, providing operators with greater situational awareness in contested environments.
Matt leads SPARC AI's expansion across the United States, overseeing commercial strategy, customer engagement, and adoption of the company's positioning technology. Before joining SPARC AI, he built DroneShield's U.S. business from the ground up as CEO of its American subsidiary. Earlier in his career, Matt served in the United States Navy as an Intelligence Operator and Analyst and as a member of the NSA's Cryptologic Direct Support Element, supporting national security and operational missions.
Whether it's electronic warfare, jamming, spoofing, or simply operating where satellite signals can't reach, today's drones face a growing challenge: how do they continue to navigate accurately and complete the mission?
In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Matt talks about the growing challenge of GPS-denied operations, how SPARC AI's Overwatch platform helps autonomous systems navigate without relying solely on GPS, what the company is learning from deployments in Ukraine, and why resilient positioning is becoming an essential capability for the next generation of drones.

Michael Abdelmaseh is Head Engineer at PyroDelta Energy.  Pyrodelta has spent nearly a decade cracking a problem that stumped the entire thermoelectric industry. The company's patented Capillary Casting process produces solid-state thermoelectric generators that convert waste heat into clean, stable electricity across applications spanning AI data centers, combustion engines, agriculture, and unmanned aerial vehicles. 
In February 2026, PyroDelta launched a Florida-based manufacturing facility producing custom-designed, defect-free thermoelectric crystals, directly addressing North American supply chain vulnerabilities from China. Most notably for the drone world, PyroDelta has entered the DARPA Lift Challenge — scheduled for August 2–9, 2026 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio competing for a share of $6.5 million in prize money.
Michael has led the engineering team that designed PyroDelta's heavy-lift drone from the ground up.   For nearly a decade, Michael and his team have been developing a breakthrough thermoelectric technology that converts waste heat from combustion engines into usable electrical power.
In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Michael talks about the engineering behind PyroDelta's patented Capillary Casting process, why the company believes waste heat is one of the most overlooked energy sources in aviation, what it takes to compete in one of DARPA's most demanding drone competitions, and where this technology could lead beyond drones.

Mike Horton is CEO and co-founder of HYFIX, a Santa Clara company developing U.S.-made positioning, navigation, communications, and computing technology for autonomous systems.
The company's H1P platform integrates flight control, positioning, communications, and onboard compute into a single architecture. HYFIX is also working on resilient navigation technologies designed for environments where traditional GPS may be jammed, spoofed, or unavailable.
Mike is a veteran technology entrepreneur with decades of experience in navigation, sensors, and autonomous systems. At HYFIX, he and his team are working to address one of the biggest challenges facing the U.S. drone industry: how to replace a fragmented collection of foreign-made components with secure, integrated technology designed and manufactured for American autonomous systems.
In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Mike and I talk about why the U.S. is restricting foreign drone technology before domestic alternatives are fully ready, how fragmented drone systems create security and supply chain risks, and why integrated, U.S.-made systems could be critical to the future of autonomy.

Ryan Bracken is Head of Product and Security at Versaterm.  Versaterm is a leading provider of public safety software that helps police, fire, EMS, and emergency communications agencies manage every stage of incident response. Its integrated platform combines computer-aided dispatch, records management, mobile data, real-time intelligence, and analytics to improve operational efficiency and situational awareness. Through its integration of DroneSense, Versaterm extending that platform to include drones, enabling agencies to dispatch, monitor, and manage them alongside traditional public safety resources.
At Versaterm, Ryan leads the strategic vision and product development for the company's integrated public safety drone platform. He brings a unique blend of operational insight and technical expertise shaped by nearly twelve years as an FBI Special Agent specializing in counterterrorism, cyber, and aviation operations. Prior to his time at the FBI, Bracken served as an Aerospace Engineer for the U.S. Air Force. He maintains his FAA Commercial/Instrument and Part 107 Remote Pilot certificates.
In this episode of the Drone Radio Show, Ryan explains how Versaterm's acquisition of DroneSense is helping agencies move beyond standalone drone programs by integrating drones directly into cad and dispatch workflows. We discuss what successful drone programs have in common, how agencies can build sustainable operations while working within budget constraints, the cybersecurity challenges of connected drone systems, and how departments can measure the effectiveness of Drone as First Responder programs. Ryan also shares his perspective on where future public safety drone programs are headed and what agencies should be doing today to prepare for the next generation of drone-enabled emergency response.

Lavera Alexander is Chief Growth Officer at the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MPED).  MBEP is a cross-sector nonprofit that convenes business, government, education, and community leaders to drive economic growth across the tri-county Monterey Bay region, and it sits at the heart of what may be the highest concentration of advanced air mobility companies anywhere in the United States.
For years, much of the conversation around drones and advanced air mobility has focused on the aircraft themselves—better batteries, new sensors, autonomy, and the promise of electric air taxis and drone delivery. But as the technology matures, it's becoming clear that building the aircraft may be the easy part. Building the infrastructure and the operational ecosystem needed to support them may be the bigger challenge.
Lavera is leading a $7.45 million state-funded initiative that aims to connect four Central Coast airports into one of the nation's first multi-airport advanced air mobility networks. The project is designed to help answer some of the key questions facing the industry today: How do we integrate drones and future air mobility systems into existing airport operations? What infrastructure will be needed? How do communities benefit? And what role can regions play in helping shape the future of aviation?
Lavera is an experienced executive with more than two decades of leadership in cross-sector collaboration, and she's now steering one of the most ambitious AAM infrastructure projects in the country.
In this episode, we'll talk about how a regional economic partnership found itself at the center of the drone industry, why infrastructure has become one of the biggest challenges facing advanced air mobility, and what this ambitious project could mean for the future movement of goods, services, and people.