Technolink Snapshot June 2019

Dear Technolink Community Member, This month, we hear from Attorney Billy A. Robbins on the importance of securing intellectual property rights in a global economy; and from Steven Gitlin, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at  Aerovironment, who introduces us to their high altitude telecommunications satellite, HAWK30.   Thank you for your continued support, engagement and inspiration that make our Technolink community so unique. We will gather again on October 8th, at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles. We look forward to continuing our conversations, Ssusan Forte O'Neill Editor and Co-founder, Technolink Association

In Conversation With... ATTORNEY BILLY A. ROBBINS

We recently sat down with renowned lawyer Billy Robbins, Esq. of Karish & Bjorgum to discuss intellectual property rights.  Not only is it extremely important on a personal level to protect your idea, it’s important to remember that every invention is also part of something much bigger. Every patent granted to a United States citizen is one more signal of the strength of our country in the global economy. Read the interview >>

Insights from Members Shaping the Future

AeroVironment's HAWK30

As many as 3.8 billion humans lack any kind of connectivity to telecommunications and web access.  AeroVironment is working to solve that. The company recently announced it had completed assembly of the first High-Altitude pseudo-Satellite, or HAPS, aircraft as part of its design, development and demonstration program for HAPSMobile, its joint venture with Japanese telecom company SoftBank corp.  The HAWK30 is a 260-foot long pilotless wing with solar panels covering its upper surface.  Its ten electric motors are 100% powered by renewable solar energy, enabling it to circle over a designated location for months without landing. The HAWK30 is designed to carry a commercial telecommunications payload to stratospheric altitudes of more than 60,000 feet above sea level and deliver mobile connectivity to users on the ground as well as to people and other vehicles in the air.  Each HAWK30 has the potential to cover a circular area on the earth’s surface measuring 200 kilometers (120 miles) in diameter. AeroVironment has been developing solar HAPS technology for more than 30 years.  Its Helios solar HAPS, developed for NASA’s ERAST program, set the world altitude record for the highest flying propeller-driven airplane in level flight, reaching nearly 97,000 feet above sea level in 2001.  The company’s PathfinderPlus solar HAPS, also developed for the ERAST program, demonstrated stratospheric 3G mobile and High-Definition TV connectivity for the very first time.  PathfinderPlus now resides in the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy facility in Virginia. HAPSMobile plans to initiate commercial operations by 2023, meaning that within a few years, AeroVironment’s technology could deliver connectivity throughout the world and help close the global digital divide.