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Frontiers March 2016 Issue

that pulled him into the aviation world. He flew gliders in high school. He obtained a private pilot’s license. He became a flight instructor and flight examiner. He studied aeronautical engineering. He owned gliders and turboprop airplanes. “My first memories of cool stuff were airplanes,” he said. “My first toys were airplanes. I always knew I was going to fly.” Before joining Insitu, Sliwa worked as a researcher in control theory and aircraft design and as a deputy chief for the Guidance & Control Division at NASA, founded a PC-based educational software firm, and served as president for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He retired from Insitu in 2011, three years after Boeing’s purchase of the company and, he explained, having accomplished everything he set out to do. He has since formed Seeq, a big data startup. He still lives part of the year in Bingen because of the favorable climate. Sliwa is proud to be considered a UAS pioneer. He helped establish an aviation product that he says has gone from science fair project to an essential tool for several industries. Among them are resource measurements, asset monitoring and oil exploration, not to mention the ever-increasing military needs. The UAS, according to the former Insitu CEO, is here to stay, soon to be commonplace for everyone. “It’s going to be a huge contribution to society and life,” Sliwa said. “Our grandkids are going to take it for granted that we’ve always had flying video cameras taking pictures around them.” DANIEL.W.RALEY@BOEING.COM 38 | BOEING FRONTIERS Photo: Steve Sliwa, the Insitu leader for a decade, shows off an evolved ScanEagle in 2006 at the Boardman Air Force Range in Oregon. INSITU


Frontiers March 2016 Issue
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