Inspiring the Teamwork that Builds UAS Innovation at Edge Autonomy: Meet Desiray Johnston.

“Entire communities are gone. It’s horrific up there,” says Jeremy White, an Edge Autonomy Program Manager in North Carolina who has witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Helene up close.

Jeremy is part of a small group of volunteer pilots, mostly Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, using private planes to deliver crucial supplies to communities in western North Carolina devastated by last week’s historic storm. Operation Airdrop—a Texas-based nonprofit that organizes aviation assets after natural disasters—is one of the primary organization these pilots have partnered with to deliver relief.

After serving in the Special Forces, Jeremy retired from the Army and joined Edge Autonomy. As a contract pilot with Sovereign Aerospace, a USAF Veteran-owned company, he also flies with the All-Veterans Group (AVG) comprised mostly of former Army Golden Knights. AVG is a demonstration parachute team that does flights over high-profile events like Carolina Panthers football games. Jeremy was flying over one of these games hours before they heard their neighbors in the western part of the state were in trouble. For the past week, Jeremy and other aviators associated with Sovereign Aerospace have been allowed to use their airplane to support relief efforts post-Helene.

When Helene made landfall and it became clear it would take days for FEMA, the National Guard, and North Carolina Emergency Management to reach many of the smaller mountain communities outside of Asheville, these Veteran pilots decided to take action.

“There’s no communication in the mountains,” Jeremy explains. “Beginning Saturday, September 28, we started flying to these stranded communities with the intention of parachuting bundles of supplies to local fire chiefs and other emergency responders who don’t have any way to get in touch with the outside world.”

Initially, poor weather conditions made it impossible to airdrop the bundles, but these volunteer pilots still delivered supplies to nearby relief stations.

“There is still a ton of need up there, and a lot of what I’m doing is connecting people. The rain hasn’t let up and there are places where supplies are just sitting there because there’s no way to transport them,” Jeremy explains.

“The terrain is very difficult to navigate; the roads are all gone. We’re continuing to coordinate airdrops into communities west of Asheville that nobody has gotten to yet, where there are hundreds of stranded people who desperately need water and fuel.”

Preparing these communities for federal emergency relief is a major way these pilots are helping out during this ongoing crisis.

“The group of people I’m working with are former military, mostly former Special Operations, who are going into areas the government hasn’t gotten to yet. They secure it and get ready to receive the National Guard when it comes in, then move on to help the next community that needs support.” 

The loss of life and level of destruction are tragic, but Jeremy has been inspired by the generous response of average people who have no background in emergency services.

“There’s a business owner from Hickory who’s been orchestrating relief efforts alongside his daughter,” says Jeremy. “They have no experience in emergency response, but this young woman who has no formal emergency response training has been sourcing supplies, finding helicopters to put them on, and telling them where to go. came in to help give their relief efforts a little more structure, but she’s been managing this all on her cell phone and in her head. She’s running the show – it’s super impressive.”

Edge Autonomy is proud to have Veterans on our team like Jeremy who continue to serve where they’re needed most. Interested in supporting these relief efforts? Please consider donating to Operation Airdrop or Transylvania County Rescue Squad.

Desiray Johnston knows how to build a strong team. A former Division I basketball player for California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, Desiray credits a lifetime of competitive sports with giving her a solid foundation in leadership, communication, and time management skills, as well as the ability to work well in teams while managing stressful situations.

As Senior Production Manager for the Edge Autonomy San Luis Obispo manufacturing facility, Desiray oversees the production floor where UAS technology and resilient energy solutions are built. With more than a decade of engineering and production experience in the aerospace industry, she understands how to foster an inclusive environment where engineers, technicians, and other team members are equipped with the tools needed to excel in their roles and pursue career advancement.

Desiray joined Edge Autonomy in March 2023 because she was attracted to the culture of continuous innovation and effective teamwork across all departments. She was also motivated by the company’s potential for future growth and wanted to be part of the excitement.

“I have spent my career honing my skills in manufacturing operations, project management, engineering, and process improvement,” she says. “I saw so much potential at Edge Autonomy and knew it would be a dynamic place to continue growing my career while helping the company meet its goals and prepare for product and solution expansion.”

Getting to witness this accelerated development on the production floor is both the most rewarding and challenging part of Desiray’s role.

“Our processes quickly grew from a prototype environment to a serial production facility,” she explains. “Throughout 2023 we saw a 300% increase in production, and we’re on track to continue this growth trend in 2024 as well.”

How did Desiray help her team achieve such an aggressive ramp rate increase?

She believes relying on team members with product and process knowledge played a major role, as did value stream mapping and incorporating Lean Six Sigma tools. Desiray has her Lean Six Sigma certification—the foremost training for leading project teams and managing process improvement initiatives. She’s currently a Master Black Belt.

“For effective change management in a rapidly growing company like Edge Autonomy, you’ve got to know the why,” she adds. “In my opinion, that why is the balance between innovations that directly benefit our forces in the field and working alongside my team to help grow and advance them personally and professionally.”

To achieve outstanding results in a short timeframe, Desiray creates a vision statement for what success means. For her team in San Luis Obispo, that vision statement is: “To cultivate a dynamic and innovative environment where collaboration, continuous improvement, and teamwork thrive, empowering our team to achieve rapid growth and build a quality product our customers can rely on and exceed expectations.”

Throughout her career, Desiray has also taken steps that push her outside her comfort zone, pursuing mentorship programs and professional development opportunities that stretch her capacities.

“Being willing to reflect on your progress and then adapt is key,” she explains.

Clear and empathetic communication is another skill that Desiray values. “You’ve got to know your audience and how to best communicate with them,” she says. “It’s important to ask for advice and surround yourself with individuals who have the skillset you want to develop so you can learn from them.”

The growing capabilities of Edge Autonomy’s next generation of UAVs—Group 2 uncrewed aircraft with increased range and payload capacity—along with continuous improvements to processes and mission-based innovations, keep things interesting for Desiray and her team. “I’m excited about the future of uncrewed systems with forthcoming AI enhancements like real-time data processing and decision-making.”

As a parent to a two-year-old daughter and five-month-old son, Desiray doesn’t have much time to relax, but she stays physically and mentally healthy outside of work by pursuing outdoor activities and her lifelong love of sports.

The lessons in leadership and teamwork provided by athletics have undoubtedly benefitted Desiray’s co-workers at the San Luis Obispo manufacturing facility in tangible ways.

“I’m proud of the team we’ve built,” she says. “We’re a diverse and inclusive group of people. We’re all striving to reach common goals so that Edge Autonomy continues on this path of remarkable growth.”

Looking for career advancement and opportunities that provide a meaningful impact to national security and aviation innovations? Explore our open positions and check out what life is like at Edge Autonomy.

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