We are pleased to announce the newly elected Silver Member representatives to the Dronecode Board of Directors: Andrew Wilkins, Ryan Johnston, and Robert Cheek. The election was held over the past few weeks, and the new board members will begin their terms this month. This year’s election saw our most competitive race to date, with five outstanding candidates vying for three seats. We are grateful to all the nominees who put themselves forward and to our Silver Members for their participation in this important community process. The newly elected directors bring a wealth of experience in drone technology, open source development, and commercial operations that will help guide Dronecode into its next chapter.
Meet Our New Board Members
Robert Cheek – UVify
Robert Cheek is the COO of UVify, where he helped scale IFO, the swarm light show drone powering the industry’s most widely deployed professional drone swarms, with 18+ Guinness World Records achieved. Robert has supported Dronecode and PX4 since the beginning because he believes the Linux Foundation model wins: open, vendor-neutral collaboration that raises the baseline for everyone and lets members differentiate above it. His vision is to make Dronecode the easiest, most trusted path from code to flight by reducing contributor friction, improving release quality, and strengthening interoperability.
Ryan Johnston – Applied Aeronautics
Ryan Johnston is the CEO of Applied Aeronautics. He is known for his leadership, ingenuity, and deep commitment to the open source community. Ryan leads by doing, supporting others, and pushing the community forward. His vision is a genuinely open and interoperable future where innovation moves faster because everyone is empowered to contribute. As a steward of open source and a generous mentor, Ryan brings exactly the perspective and energy needed to help guide Dronecode into its next chapter.
Andrew Wilkins – Ascend Engineering
Andrew Wilkins is the CEO of Ascend Engineering. He does extensive contracting work with various PX4-related projects and has a strong sense of what these projects need from Dronecode. Ascend Engineering currently employs two PX4 maintainers, giving Andrew direct insight into the technical needs and direction of the community.
A Thank You to All Nominees
We also want to thank Alex Klimaj of ARK Electronics and Godfrey Nolan of RIIS LLC for their willingness to serve on the Board. They are valuable community members, and we hope they will consider running again in future elections.
The Current Board of Directors
The 2026 Board of Directors are:
- Lorenz Meier (Community Director) — Chairman
- Daniel Agar (PX4 Maintainer) — TSC Chairman
- Robert Cheek (UVify) — Silver Director
- Ryan Johnston (Applied Aeronautics) — Silver Director
- Andrew Wilkins (Ascend Engineering) — Silver Director
First Board Meeting
The newly elected board will hold its first meeting at the Linux Foundation Member Summit in Napa, California between February 23-25, 2026.
The Importance of Membership
Membership in the Dronecode Foundation is an opportunity to take an active role in supporting the growth and evolution of the open drone ecosystem. Our members are part of a vibrant community, working together to advance the drone industry through open source. Learn more about membership here.
