The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems and robotics, today announced new additions to its advocacy staff. The expansion will increase the association’s expertise across domains and result in greater capacity to advocate for the industry at all levels of government.
Max Rosen will join the AUVSI team as a Manager of Government Affairs bringing bipartisan and bicameral experience and expertise in federal transportation and technology policy. Rosen was most recently Vice President at Elevate Government Affairs, where he served as a consultant to AUVSI, and was previously on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Aviation Subcommittee, where he worked on unmanned systems and other aviation policies.
Scott Shtofman will join the AUVSI staff as Manager of Grassroots Advocacy & Chapter Engagement. Shtofman is a licensed attorney and certificated Part 107 Remote Pilot, with experience supporting drone operations and policy. Shtofman brings his perspective as a past member of the AUVSI Air Advocacy Committee and Secretary of the AUVSI Lone Star Chapter. He will help expand AUVSI’s advocacy reach at the state and local government levels and grow the association’s grassroots network.
Anna Dietrich joins AUVSI as a Policy Advisor to consult on drone and advanced air mobility (AAM) policy issues, with a focus on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and autonomous operations. Dietrich, founder of AMD Consulting, is an industry-recognized leader in policy, certification, and government relations for AAM and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. An original co-founder of AAM company Terrafugia while at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), her industry experience includes several executive-level positions advising leaders in the private and public sectors as well providing as key industry thought leadership.
“The core of AUVSI’s mission is to foster good public policy at the local, state, tribal, federal and international levels, which is critical to promoting a viable ecosystem for the unmanned systems industry and allowing for growth in the commercial, civil and defense markets,” said Michael Robbins, AUVSI’s Executive Vice President of Government & Public Affairs. “By expanding our capacity to shape and respond to policymaking at all levels of government, AUVSI is investing in the industry’s future at a critical moment when economic, societal, and geopolitical momentum and technological advancements are converging.”
AUVSI’s investment in building its advocacy capacity will allow the association to expand its work on critical issues across domains and sectors. In the air domain, there will be an enhanced emphasis on BVLOS policy development and promotion as well as building a roadmap towards trusted autonomy in the commercial and defense sectors. Defense acquisition reform for unmanned systems in the air, ground, and maritime domains remains a key strategic objective for AUVSI, and the association is working closely with stakeholders in the DoD and the U.S. Navy on workshops to build towards meaningful improvements to allow new technologies to get into the hands of warfighters. AUVSI also recently launched an Automated Goods Movement Working Group to focus on policy enablement of automated freight handling, ranging from automated trucks to sidewalk delivery bots, with a focus on enhanced supply chain logistics.
