Tom Davis serves as Chief Innovation Officer for Crown Consulting Inc. Davis, a renowned expert in uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and airspace automation technologies, will further enhance Crown’s leadership in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). His focus will include government and industry partnerships that drive public and commercial innovation and application of advanced aerospace and information technologies.
Davis comes to Crown following service as Chief Operating and Executive Officer for Aerial Vantage, a UAS remote sensing and analytics startup firm. There, he initiated flight programs in Michigan and Florida to collect high-resolution agricultural imagery, directed development of a “Software as a Service” advanced data processing and analytics platform and partnered with universities to win NASA and National Science Foundation grants to apply machine learning and data analytics methods to UAS fleet management. He also directed a team that gained first in nation approvals for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights up to 1,000 ft in Florida and nationwide for Class G airspace under 400 feet.
Davis previously served as Crown’s Vice President of Science and Research Programs, spearheading the company’s emergence as a world leader in UAS and AAM concepts. He played a key role in crafting NASA’s pathbreaking AAM market studies and fashioning NASA’s AAM concepts. He was an architect of North Carolina Department of Transportation’s UAS initiatives, helping NCDOT achieve UAS firsts in securing approvals for flights over busy surface traffic, routine medical package delivery, statewide UAS traffic management concepts and BVLOS statewide bridge inspections.
Preceding his private sector career, Davis spent more than 36 years at the NASA Ames Research Center directing research in airspace automation, including integration of UAS into the National Airspace System. His leadership on collaborative air traffic management research with the Federal Aviation Administration contributed to developing advanced automation systems in operation today.
Davis holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In recognition of his accomplishments in aeronautics and ATM, NASA honored Davis with its Outstanding Leadership Medal, Exceptional Service Medal and Exceptional Engineering Achievement Award.
