Darshan Divakaran

Darshan “Dash” Divakaran joined The Roosevelt Group as a Senior Advisor in the summer of 2024. He is an aerospace intrapreneur and technology evangelist with expertise in manned & unmanned aviation, aerospace & defense, transportation & infrastructure, AI & autonomy, geospatial analysis, and program management. His areas of expertise in unmanned aviation also includes Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), counter UAS and scaling Autonomy. He has led efforts to work with the public and private sector to develop, integrate and manage national award-winning programs and initiatives. He has been recognized by Commercial UAV News, eVTOL Insights and InterDrone as one of the top UAS and AAM visionaries in the nation.

In his prior role, Dash was the Head of Airspace Innovation & Prime Partnerships for AFWERX, the innovation arm of the United States Air Force. In this role he led efforts to promote air domain awareness and airspace modernization for air mobility and base security through joint operations, interagency, state, and academic partnerships. He initiated and supported the DoD Policy Board on Federal Aviation (PBFA) in forming the Emerging Aviation Concepts (EAC) subgroup that advises and assists the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition on matters related to: Air Traffic Control (ATC), Airspace Management, National Airspace System (NAS) matters like AAM, UTM and other new entrants, Joint Systems Acquisition, and International Affairs. He led efforts to develop, test, validate and integrate Airspace Traffic Management Systems, Low Altitude Weather Networks and other sensors for scaling Autonomy, Security and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). He was also the Department of Defense subject matter expert to liaise with White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and other federal & state government agencies on AAM, UAS, Airspace and Autonomy.

Over the years Dash has been an executive aviation consultant, board member, educator and subject matter expert on emerging technologies for national and international organizations. He has spoken at over 250 conferences worldwide focusing on innovation and partnership. In addition to his many roles, he was also the UAS Program Engineer that led the drone flight operations & safety for North Carolina UAS Integration Pilot Program (a White House, USDOT and FAA led effort) that focused on medical package delivery and post disaster infrastructure inspections under the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT). He has been a key leader in building innovation programs and teams for state, local, non-profit, academia and private sectors in North Carolina, Arizona, DC, Ohio, etc. He is also the founding president of AUVSI North Carolina, an international non-profit organization that focuses on education and outreach in unmanned systems and robotics.

Dash holds a MS in Geospatial Information Science & Technology from NC State University and BS in Professional Aeronautics & Aviation Management from Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University. He is an FAA certified commercial pilot with multi engine rating and holds a Part 107 remote pilot certificate. He is also a Defense Venture Fellow.