Wingcopter has been named a finalist in the XCELLENCE Awards by the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI). The Germany-based manufacturer of autonomous delivery drones was selected from a pool of entries as one of six finalists for the Humanitarian category. The winner will be announced during the keynote session on the 8 October at AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2020 in Dallas, Texas.
“The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations who have applied unmanned systems technology to create solutions to address a range of challenges affecting business and society,” said Brian Wynne, President and CEO of AUVSI. “AUVSI is pleased to recognise these finalists for their perseverance and dedication to turn dreams into reality.”
Focused on improving the lives of people worldwide, a significant part of Wingcopter’s projects are of humanitarian nature. Its aircraft can be fitted for long-range delivery of urgently needed medical supplies in areas where infrastructure is poor and traditional means of transport would take too long. Thanks to its patented tilt-rotor mechanism the Wingcopter can take off and land in the smallest areas, while at the same time fly as fast as a fixed-wing unmanned aircraft.
Wingcopter has proven its technology works in various humanitarian projects with missions in the South Pacific island state of Vanuatu, where it set up a drone-based on-demand supply network on behalf of the local Ministry of Health and supported by UNICEF. By delivering vaccines for children to 19 remote health clinics, delivery times could be reduced from several hours or even days to a few minutes. Also in Tanzania and Malawi, Wingcopter was able to prove that drone delivery can drastically shorten patients’ waiting times, especially for urgently needed medicines.
“Being recognised for our humanitarian efforts, something that is deeply rooted in our company DNA encourages us to continue on the path we have chosen. Even though we will expand our activities in parcel and food delivery as well, we will always use our cutting-edge technology for the purpose of saving or improving people’s lives, as we believe that advances in technology should not be a privilege of economically developed societies,” explains Tom Plümmer, Co-Founder and CEO of Wingcopter.
The AUVSI XCELLENCE Awards is for individuals and organisations that are innovators in the unmanned systems industry, with a demonstrated commitment to advancing autonomy, leading and promoting safe adoption of unmanned systems, and developing programs that use these technologies to save lives and improve the human condition.
