Michigan takes the lead

Gov. Whitmer Kicks Off First-Ever Uncrewed Triple Challenge, Advancing State’s Leadership in Advanced Aerial Mobility Innovation

EGI is Proudly MI-Manufacturing

Early this summer, Governor Whitmer (above) reinforced efforts to advance aerial mobility and innovation (press link) in the State of Michigan further supporting businesses and organizations, leading the charge to build a robust maritime, airborne and land-based e-mobility manufacturing infrastructure.

 Michigan's drones and eVTOL infrastructure includes end-to-end capability from R&D to testing and real-world deployment. E.g. the University of Michigan's M-Air Lab includes a 9,600 sq ft outdoor netted drone flight facility.

Michigan also has a strong policy and funding ecosystem. The Alpena based Michigan Unmanned Aerial Systems Consortium (MUASC) covers 11,000 sq miles of airspace to support testing, pilot services, BVLOS operations and military-grade development. A second funding ecosystem is the Centrepolis Accelerator.

Michigan supports critical components like batteries, software, sensors, and autonomous systems with one of the highest concentrations of electrical and mechanical engineers in the United States. One such EGI partner StorTronics offers fast battery pack customization using our advanced pouch cells.

Michigan shares cross-sector cooperation with nearly 4,000 companies engaged in aerospace and defense. For example, Airspace Link (Detroit) is a national leader of drone air traffic systems and mapping software (UTM) leading FAA integrations for local government drone and eVTOL flight authorization.

 A few other key players from Michigan providing platforms and solutions for commercial and defense operations include companies such as AG3 Labs, Ascent AeroSystems, Blueflite, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) among many others.