Gur Kimchi Joins Ascent AeroSystems' Board of Directors

TEWKSBURY, Mass., Nov. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascent AeroSystems today announced that Gur Kimchi, former Vice President of Amazon Prime Air, has been elected to the company's board of directors. He becomes the first outside board member.

Gur is a technology veteran and an industry pioneer. After joining Amazon in 2012 he co-founded the Amazon Prime Air delivery-by-drone project and led the organization for the next 7 years, culminating recently with Amazon Prime Air's FAA certification as a Part 135 commercial airline. Prior to Amazon, Gur spent ten years at Microsoft where he was integral in the development of key technologies including Virtual Earth & Bing Maps, Contextual & Geosocial search, Cloud Infrastructure, Augmented and Virtual Reality, and Enterprise Communications. A veteran of five early stage companies, Gur previously served on the board of Waze (acquired by Google) and was one of the early developers of VoIP technology and IP-based telecommunications interoperability standards. Gur is a founding member of the FAA Drone Advisory Committee, and worked in collaboration with the FAA, SESAR, NASA, and ICAO on the development of the Federated Airspace Management Architecture, enabling the safe integration of drones into the airspace around the world. 

"Coaxials are a uniquely capable aircraft configuration because of their inherent simplicity, performance, and efficiency," Gur said, "but they are also quite difficult to engineer and control. I have been following the Ascent team for the last 6 years, and what they have accomplished up to this point is remarkable. The performance and robustness of their latest generation product, the Spirit UAV, is quite unique, and I'm looking forward to playing a hands-on role in their journey, enabling a wide range of data-collection & remote-sensing applications."

"We're delighted to have someone of Gur's experience join the Ascent AeroSystems team," said Peter Fuchs, Ascent AeroSystems' CEO.  "The Prime Air program has set the global standard for certificated UAS technology and operations, and to have its chief join us will bring unmatched expertise in safety-critical software, AI, communications, integration and operations at global scale. We have bold, ambitious plans for the company, and I'm looking forward to working closely with Gur as we work to make them a reality."

About Ascent AeroSystems

Ascent AeroSystems designs and manufactures rugged coaxial unmanned aerial systems for the industrial, public safety and defense markets. With a unique cylindrical configuration that's far more portable and durable than conventional multirotors, Ascent's UAVs are ideal for mission-critical operations in the toughest environments. 

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SOURCE Ascent AeroSystems