Meet Our RePL Graduate - Adam from Radial Systems

Meet our RePL Graduate - Adam, from Radial Systems

What made you want to get into this type of work?
I used to work in the energy sector in New South Wales and my passion for mapping started there with the mapping of power corridors, part of my role was supporting the GIS team and network operations team, who digitised all of the poles, wires and other assets. It was a vast amount of data and critical to operating and maintaining the electricity network. I realised aerial mapping was the only way to complete these types of jobs, usually due to the size of the area and the terrain.

I actually got into drones through my interest in mapping and laser scanning. In the old days, these aerial scans were put together through fixed-wing aircraft, which obviously had quite a high cost attached to it. With drones becoming cheaper to obtain and operate, smaller companies can now access these types of aerial services at a much lower cost. The lower cost of appropriate hardware also meant pursuing this type of career was far easier for me than it would have been without drones; not to mention Droneit's student discount on hardware let me save even more.

So really drones have allowed me to combine my interests in aviation, data, technology and mapping to pursue a new and interesting career path in an evolving industry. It's a game-changer!

What made you want to seek out getting your RePL through Droneit?

I realised an RePL will open lots of opportunities for me not just in being able to fly drones legally and safely, but also in building trust with my clients. I work closely with builders and architects to provide them with aerial scans for their projects, these scans make up part of their overall building project deliverable. Me having those appropriate RePL qualifications gives my clients confidence that I know what I'm doing and my work will be of a high quality. The RePL also means that my clients have that extra peace of mind that all the CASA rules are being followed on their worksite, thereby reducing their risk. I think this definitely gives me an advantage over not having my RePL.

Do you have any interesting or memorable jobs that you have been involved in since getting your RePL?
Recently I was involved in an architecture project in the beautiful countryside! It was a large site with a river intersecting throughout and power transmissions positioned through the site too. It made for some interesting drone flying in a really picturesque location. After I processed the 3D data from the drone, I was able to show my clients a visual representation of the site with high accuracy for measurement tasks - they were super excited with the images and the speed with which they were produced!

It's definitely a pretty cool way to earn a living. In my previous job I was pretty much stuck behind a desk in the office most days, so being able to get out and about to visit these types of locations, and help my clients too is an amazing change for me.

If you'd like to learn more, check out Radial Systems here. Otherwise, you can always contact the friendly Droneit team for any questions about completing your RePL or starting your own drone business  here. Droneit offers student exclusive discounts on eligible hardware, so you can start your drone business for less!