There are more solutions than obstacles. Nicolas Zart
AUGUSTA, Georgia — March 2026 — Georgia is continuing to build one of the most active advanced air mobility (AAM) and UAS ecosystems in the United States right where it is needed first and foremost, urban and rural areas. Specifically, the AGS Xchange 2026, held at Augusta Regional Airport and organized by the Skyworx Innovation Xchange, brought together for the seventh year operators, engineers, policymakers, defense officials, and industry builders for a full day of sessions spanning unmanned systems innovation, AAM infrastructure, BVLOS healthcare access, Counter-UAS, and more.
Electric Air Mobility has been a fervent attendee and actively involved with the exchange and airport. This is one of those laser focused event we enjoy. We will have many of the speakers at the forum on The Ways We Move podcast in the weeks ahead.
Setting the Stage: Georgia’s Innovation Infrastructure
The event was emceed by Benjamin Andrews, Statewide Program Manager at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), with a platinum sponsorship from the Georgia Center of Innovation, represented by Executive Director David Nuckolls. The presence of ATDC — Georgia Tech‘s startup accelerator and one of the most active innovation programs in the Southeast — signals how seriously Georgia’s institutional ecosystem is taking the AAM and UAS opportunity.
Unmanned Aerial Systems Innovation
The Innovation Exchange always does a terrific job at bringing to the table air taxi OEMs, drone OEM, military, fire departments, ATC, and education. The morning opened with a panel on UAS innovation moderated by Troy Lorier of Savannah River National Laboratory, featuring three distinct operational perspectives. Mike Ledbetter, Executive VP and COO of COLSA Corporation, addressed swarm technology applications. James McClearen, CTO of BlueFlite, covered additive manufacturing’s role in next-generation drone production. CW5 Eugene “Tom” Marable of the U.S. Army National Guard rounded out the panel with a ground-level view of attritable drone strategy in modern defense operations.
Emergency Operations and UAS: A Georgia Power Case Study
A highlight of the morning was a special presentation from Cody Michaux of Southern Company Air Systems and Kevin McCraney of Georgia Power on emergency operation support with UAS. As utilities increasingly integrate drones into grid inspection, storm response, and infrastructure monitoring, this session offered a concrete look at how one of the Southeast’s largest energy providers is operationalizing unmanned systems at scale.
Project Updates: SkyDrive, Collins Aerospace & Rune Aero
The mid-morning project update session — moderated by Chris Dickson, Augusta Region Startup Catalyst at ATDC — featured three organizations at very different stages of the AAM journey.
Rohit Wariyar, Director of U.S. Business Development at SkyDrive, presented the company’s latest U.S. expansion progress, following SkyDrive’s landmark Tokyo demo flights in February and the upcoming Verticon 2026 announcement in Atlanta on March 9. Wariyar is one of the key figures building SkyDrive’s North American footprint, and his presence at AGS Xchange underscores Georgia’s growing relevance as an AAM market.
Nadine Auda, Co-Founder of Rune Aero, shared updates on the Augusta-area startup’s progress. And Nicholas “Nick” Liberko, Senior Principal Systems Engineer at Collins Aerospace, brought the perspective of a Tier 1 aerospace supplier navigating the AAM integration challenge.
AAM Infrastructure & Vertiports
Rolando “Roly” Tapanes, VP of Business Development at Vertiports by Atlantic, delivered a focused presentation on AAM infrastructure — one of the industry’s most underreported bottlenecks. As airframes get closer to certification, the vertiport gap is becoming increasingly urgent. Tapanes’ session addressed the practical path to building, permitting, and operating vertiport infrastructure in markets like Georgia.
BVLOS Operations and Healthcare Access
One of the afternoon’s most compelling sessions came from Tyson “Ty” Harmon, Co-Founder of Valkyrie-UAS Solutions, on unlocking Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations to increase healthcare access. BVLOS remains one of the FAA’s most carefully managed frontiers — and its humanitarian applications, from rural medical delivery to emergency response, represent some of the strongest arguments for accelerating the regulatory pathway.
UAS Research at Georgia Tech
Our good friend and podcast guest, Marilyn Smith, Director of the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence at Georgia Institute of Technology, presented on UAS research and development and what it means for Georgia’s broader economy. Georgia Tech’s Vertical Lift Research CoE is one of the nation’s leading academic institutions in rotorcraft and advanced air mobility research, and its proximity to Georgia’s growing AAM industry creates a powerful flywheel of talent and innovation.
The Ways We Move with Marylin Smith
Counter-UAS: The Defense Dimension
The afternoon closed with a Counter-UAS panel moderated by COL (Ret) Ernesto Cortez of AEVEX Aerospace Global Services, featuring Marina Rozenblat, Chief Scientist for Data Management and Analytics at CNA, and Mike Ledbetter of COLSA Corporation. As the commercial and defense UAS ecosystems converge, Counter-UAS has become a critical discipline — and Georgia, home to Fort Eisenhower and multiple military installations, is a natural hub for this work.
What This Means for the Industry
AGS Xchange 2026 is a microcosm of where the AAM and UAS industry stands right now: real technology, real operators, real infrastructure challenges, and real defense applications — all converging in a state that has quietly positioned itself at the intersection of military, commercial, and academic aviation innovation.
For Electric Air Mobility News, this event is a must go to. Many of the speakers will be coming soon on our podcast conversations on The Ways We Move. Several AGS Xchange speakers will be joining us in the weeks ahead — subscribe on your favorite platform to catch those conversations as they drop.
Electric Air Mobility News covered AGS Xchange 2026 on location in Augusta, Georgia. The Ways We Move podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and Buzzsprout.
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