Acknowledgements
Books such as this are the products of contributions by many people, not just the musings of the authors. Unmanned Vehicle Systems and Operations on Air, Sea, Land has benefited from the review of numerous experts in the field, who gave generously of their time and expertise. In addition to named subject matter experts, this book was reviewed by sources in the two federal agencies who must remain anonymous and by export / procedural / OVRP committee’s at KSU. Their contributions were especially helpful in not releasing protected information, classified, or “deemed exportable” categories. We will name only a few and clearly miss some special friends whose contributions were noteworthy. For this we apologize in advance and beg your forgiveness.
There are many people we would like to shout out a special thank you for your guidance, continued support and experience from Kansas State University / Kansas State University Polytechnic (KSU / KSUP): Dr. Richard Myers, President KSU; Dr. Kurt C. Barnhart, Associate Dean of Research and Executive Director of the UAS Research Laboratory KSUP; Dr. Alysia Starkey, Dean & CEO of KSUP; Dr. Terri Gaeddert, Associate Dean; Professor Troy Harding, Director of Academics, School of Integrated Studies (SIS) KSUP; Dr. Donald V. Bergen, prior Director of Graduate Studies KSUP; Fred Guzek, Professor and current Director of Graduate Studies KSUP; Dr. Kurt Caraway, Kurt Carraway,UAS Department Head & Executive Director, Applied Aviation Research Center, Dr. Michael Most. (Retired) UAS Department Chair, Dr. Mark J. Jackson, Professor, SIS KSUP; Dr. Saeed Khan, Professor, SIS KSUP; Dr. Tom Haritos, ARG, Associate Director of Research and UAS Research Program Manager; Dr. M.J. Pritchard, Sr. Davis Scientist; Dr. Siny Joseph, ARG, and Associate Professor of Economics; Professor Raju Dandu; Dr. Katherine Jones, KSUP Research and Library; Rachel Miles, Assistant Professor, Hale Library KSU; Lisa Shappee, Director, KSUP Library; Beth Drescher, Grant Specialist KSUP; Charlene Simser, prior Professor and Coordinator of Electronic Publishing at New Prairie Press and Pressbooks,[my mentor in the publishing gig]; Emily Finch and Ryan Otto at NPP; Chad Bailey, Instructor SIS KSUP, Aris Theocharis, our terrific editor; and especially Joel Anderson, KSU OVPR and Research Director.
We had some wonderful outside SMEs to bounce ideas off and get our heads straight. They include Dr. Donald Rebovich, Professor Emeritus and SME in Fraud and Identity Theft; Professor of Practice and Cybersecurity Director, Joe Giordano, Utica College; Professor Harold B. Massey, Executive Director of UAS Drone Port, UAS Pilot and Dr Amit K Maitra, Chairman and Founder of Borders and Beyond, Inc., Dr. Bartosz Wojszczyk, President and CEO Decision Point Global and Bart Shields, Inventor and CTO of Olympus Sky, Inc.
Next comes our expanded writing team: Dr Julie J. C. H. Ryan, CEO, Wyndrose Technical Group, is hands down the best subject matter expert (SME) in the Information Security field. Dr. Hans C. Mumm is an expert in leadership and UAS weapons – a lethal combination. Dr. Wayne C. Lonstein, Esq., a previous Dragon (Nichols’ student) has gained recognition (licenses and certifications) in both law and cybersecurity as well as heads up his own legal firm. Professor Candice C. Carter, a Dragoness who is the creator of a cybersecurity program at Wilmington University and travels globally closing specialized cybersecurity breaches in major corporations. Capt. John Paul Hood, US Army, (our military adviser and previous Dragon) joined us to help us understand the intricacies of military C-UAS (non-classified) applications. Randall Mai, Research Technologist for KSU, a Dragon convert, with years of experience in UAS filed operations; Dr Mark Jackson, SME in UUV, naval architecture, and nanotechnologies, Sgt Jeremy Shay, Dragon student, COVID-19 expert, RET USAF, Fabrication Production Manager, Spirit AeroSystems; and Joel Coulter, President, Mobile Sciences Consortium, LLC.
Last, Professor Randall K. Nichols is managing editor / author / co-author of nine prior books and developer of six Masters and Certificate programs in Cybersecurity at Utica College and Kansas State University. He has five decades of Cybersecurity experience.
Finally, Montine Nichols deserves a commendation for her help on the final drafts and copy edit work for our book (and living with a real Dragon). Several KSUP UAS pilot – students (now employed) helped with the “student view,” and made valid suggestions for improvement, Vincent Salerno, Senior Airman in Kansas Air National Guard, John Boesen, (our handwriting expert); Diana K. Nichols, UAS Pilot; Josh Jacobs, Jorge Silva, Sr. UAS Safety Engineer, and Jordan McDonald. Special thanks go Kira C. Miller who professionally developed (more like “nailed”) our cover art four times in a row.
The team especially thanks Assistant Professors Ryan W. Otto, and Emily Finch Scholarly Communication Librarians, for their expert assistance with the NPP final efforts.
Randall K Nichols
Professor of Practice
Director, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) – Cybersecurity Graduate Certificate Program
Managing Editor / Co-Author
Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus &
Professor Emeritus – Cybersecurity, Utica College
