Global drone awards platform announces inaugural judges and makes entries free as a result of the pandemic

Airwards, the global drone awards platform, is pleased to unveil its line-up of judges for the scheme’s inaugural year. Judges include global leaders, pre-eminent drone experts and industry specialists from the US, UK, India, Australia, South Africa, Senegal, Malawi and Switzerland. The not-for-profit also announces that its awards are now free to enter this year, in order to ease budget pressures companies are facing as a result of the pandemic.

Airwards’ mission is to champion best practice drone work from around the world. The judging line-up is designed to reflect the breadth of differing disciplines and pioneering industries recognised by the first-of-its-kind awards programme. The award categories span a number of uses and sectors, including specific Industries/Fields, Technology, Operations, Supporting Services and Giving Back, with a People’s Choice category voted for by the public.

Airwards judges 2021 

• Gemma Alcock, Founder, SkyBound Rescuer
• Wayne Baker, Director of Public Safety Integration, DJI
• Will Barnes, UAS Service Lead, Frazer-Nash
• James Bell, Acting Innovation Strategy Lead, CAA Innovation Hub

• Gareth Beverley, Managing Director, Consortiq
• Dr. Olivier Defawe, Director, VillageReach
• Romeo Durscher, Vice President, Auterion
• David Guerin, Safety, Operations, & Regulations Adviser, African Drone Forum
• Mahmood Hussein, CEO, Global Drone Solutions
• Louise Jupp, Founder, Terreco Aviation
• Duncan Lees, 3D Scanning Specialist, Visualskies
• Manu Lubrano, Co-Founder, INVOLI
• Ellie Mackay, Founder, Ellipsis Earth
• Dr. Pippa Malmgren, Economic Advisor and Author
• Eugene Maseya, Co-Founder, MamaBird
• Queen Ndlovu, Drone Author and CEO & Co-Founder, QP Drone Tech
• Stephen Oh, Founder, XM2 PURSUIT
• Anna Plaster, Director, OASIS
• Tiamiyou Radji, Director, Senegal Flying Labs
• Simon Ritterband, Founder, Moonrock Drone Insurance
• Smit Shah, Director of Partnerships, Drone Federation of India
• Will Stamatopoulos, Airline Pilot and Director, In Motion Aero
• Hannah Tew, Innovation Lead, Future Flight at Innovate UK
• Prof. Antonios Tsourdos, Director of Research, Cranfield University
• Charles Werner, Director, DRONERESPONDERS
• Gareth Whatmore, Co-Founder & CEO, DronePrep

Richard Nichols, Airwards founder, says: “We’re extremely proud to announce this year’s Airwards judges. We’re committed to recognising best practice drone work across a large number of fields and disciplines. We believe our year one judging line-up reflects the diverse range of innovation and incredible work being accomplished by the global drone industry.

“We’ve also been aware that the past year has been tough for most people, as well as for businesses, so we decided to make all award entries free for our inaugural year as a way to alleviate any financial barriers to entering. Airwards is open to all and we can’t wait to champion our winners demonstrating how drones are changing the world for the better.”

About Airwards

Airwards is the first digital awards scheme of its kind to recognise the wide variety of positive drone use cases globally. Submissions are free this year and open until 12 March 2021, with winners announced in late May. Airwards will be looking for outstanding examples where drones are leading the way in innovation, responsibility and impactful real-world solutions. 

For more information on the Airwards judges 2021, visit: www.airwards.online/judges. 

For more details on eligibility, categories, judging criteria and FAQs, visit airwards.online.