Zack Holloway, a senior computer engineering student at South Dakota Mines, describes his journey with Airborne Dynamic Systems as one shaped powerfully by customer discovery and the Great Plains Hub I‑Corps program. “We really weren’t sure where this technology would best fit,” he admitted. “I‑Corps helped us find the right industry.”
Zack and his team entered I‑Corps as undergraduates with a functioning U.S.-sourced UAV platform, but no clear understanding of who needed it most. Rather than validating a research question, they used I‑Corps to explore markets for their technology. “The first two weeks, we were just sampling as many industries as we could,” he said. “We talked to agriculture, gas, consumer, cinematic, pretty much anything we could get in front of.”
Patterns quickly emerged with the power industry correlating the best for their idea. Their interviews across multiple electric cooperatives and utilities revealed a strong preference for U.S.-made drone systems. As Zack put it, “We saw three groups: those who didn’t care where their drones came from, those who could go either way, and those who really cared about U.S. sourcing. And that was most common in the power industry.”
These interviews didn’t just identify a market for the team, they reshaped the product itself. Through discussions with utility operators and decision-makers, the team learned that companies needed a new type of sensor to detect early signs of infrastructure failure. “I‑Corps actually shaped how our product turned out in the end,” Zack explained. The team used this insight to build a custom three‑band spectral imager capable of identifying line fraying and transformer or insulator degradation before breakdowns occur. That technology is now patent‑pending with support from South Dakota Mines.
Many of the people they interviewed later became early adopters, consulting clients, or partners. The team helped one power company launch its UAV program and leased their early drone models to three customers at around $20,000 per six‑month contract. Two of those customers purchased their aircraft outright once the beta period ended.
Since forming their LLC in April 2024, the company has continued to expand. Airborne Dynamic Systems now includes 15 team members on its defense side and 8 on the commercial side. They operate partly on campus and partly at a manufacturing facility near Philip, South Dakota. Their defense work has grown rapidly as drones become increasingly tied to national security concerns. The company now simulates drone attacks on military installations to test counter‑UAV defenses and is currently in SBIR review while negotiating with agencies including the U.S. Air Force, Department of Homeland Security, and FBI. On the commercial side, the team is preparing to launch a new drone line designed for live event production under the Stagelight brand.
Reflecting on I‑Corps, Zack is quick to recommend it and especially to fellow engineers. “Engineers come up with a lot of great ideas, but we don’t always know how to communicate with people,” he said. “I‑Corps taught us how to talk and interview people—not to tell them our idea, but to figure out what their problem is.”
The team is planning to validate another new idea with customer discovery through I‑Corps this spring lending proof that the process continues to be central to their growth as innovators and entrepreneurs.