Meet Nick Winsick, the Director of Technology at Inspired Flight Technologies “IFT”, who brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for aerospace to the forefront of drone technology. With a journey that began in the US Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician, Nick's career has been defined by his commitment to excellence and innovation. After serving eight years in the military, he pursued a degree in electrical engineering and subsequently joined Orbital Sciences, which became Northrop Grumman. There, he honed his skills in missile defense systems before stepping into the drone industry.
At IFT, Nick leverages his two decades of aerospace engineering experience to lead the company’s engineering efforts, focusing on developing reliable, high-quality drone products that meet the demanding standards of today's market.
Can you tell us about your background in engineering? What led you to specialize in drone technology?
I grew up loving everything aerospace, which led me to join the US Navy right out of high school post-9/11. I became an Aviation Electronics Technician and spent 8 years maintaining various types of aircraft. After the military, I pursued a degree in electrical engineering and joined a company called Orbital Sciences, which later became Northrop Grumman. As an engineer and leader, my team and I designed, built, and tested missile defense rockets.
All this experience led to me becoming the Director of Technology at IFT. I was excited to bring my 20 years of aerospace engineering experience to the fast-growing drone industry.
What inspired you to join Inspired Flight, and how has your experience shaping the company’s engineering direction?
What drove me to join IFT was the opportunity to work with emerging technologies and a talented engineering and executive leadership team to deliver high-quality products to a rapidly expanding market. Since joining, my aerospace experience has allowed us to take an execution-focused approach to product development and delivery, organizing the team to stay focused while leadership removes roadblocks to deliver whole system excellence on schedule.
What’s a key lesson from your past experiences that you bring into your role at Inspired Flight?
Testing like you fly. All the products I have worked on in my career had to work every time and were critical to mission success. That means as a company, we don’t deliver something unless we’ve made sure every part of it works.
As Director of Technology, what does a typical day look like for you?
Strategy and execution dominate my day. I spend most of my time working with the executive leadership to craft business strategies and determine where the product is headed. The rest of my time is spent working side by side with the engineering team to make sure we are executing on those business goals with whole system excellence.
What are some of the biggest challenges when designing NDAA-compliant drones?
The biggest challenges of designing NDAA-compliant drones are twofold. First is being able to find the right NDAA-compliant product that meets the requirements needed. Second is finding that product at a competitive price versus the non-NDAA compliant alternatives.
How do you and your team approach innovation while maintaining reliability in drone development?
We have the smartest and hardest working team in the drone industry. Our team is constantly looking for ways to innovate the product to provide features our customers want and can use today. To stay up with the market while maintaining reliability, we work closely with our manufacturing teams and focus on design for manufacturability, quality system builds, backed by a rigorous test flight process
What role does testing and validation play in the development of drones?
Testing and validation mean everything in product development and delivery. The more testing our internal teams can perform, the more edge cases we can find before something gets out and potentially affects one of our customers. Additionally, building a highly reliable product that reduces our customers' downtime is a top priority for the culture of the engineering team.
How does your team collaborate with other departments, like manufacturing or customer support, to refine IFT’s products?
Product & Engineering are at the heart of the company. It's a big responsibility since not only are we required to deliver a product on time and make it exemplify whole system excellence, but we also need to train and work closely with other departments to help them be successful as well. Our team works daily with our Customer Success teams, Manufacturing Teams, and Flight Ops team to train on current and new products, but also listen for feedback to improve.
What technologies or trends in the drone industry excite you the most right now?
Getting away from DJI excites me the most. While DJI makes a great product that we can learn from, there is lots of potential to listen to market feedback and design Inspired Flight drones to be American Made while surpassing the competition.
Are there any upcoming innovations or projects at IFT that you’re especially excited about?
2025 is a big year for Inspired Flight. We took the feedback from our customers to heart and are working on bringing some exciting products this year, including Survey RTK/PPK, a New Ground Controller, and a New Battery Charger. Additionally, our Inspired Suite software is released, allowing customers to track their fleets and pilots via Elevate and PilotGo.
What advice would you give to aspiring engineers who want to work in drone technology?
I would give the same advice to aspiring engineers in the drone industry as to any other engineer. Make sure you find your passion in your work. Any engineering job is going to be filled with highs and lows, but what helps you love the job and get through the lows is enjoying your job and your career.
What do you enjoy most about working at IFT?
The people and culture are the best part of Inspired Flight. Everyone is so dedicated to building a high-quality product and supporting our customers. There is so much passion and excitement about where the industry is going and how Inspired Flight is going to be a part of that journey.
When you’re not engineering cutting-edge drone technology, how do you like to spend your time?
Spending time with my wife and playing as much golf as possible. When I moved to California’s central coast from Arizona, the best part was the weather. The weather has allowed me to always get outside and do things.
If you could design a dream drone with no limitations, what features would it have?
To me, there is no perfect drone that fits everyone's needs. Just like the 800 and 1200 fit different markets, my dream drone is the drone that always works and makes our customers excited to use our product.
What’s one fun fact about you that people might not expect?
I was a part of Operation Unified Assistance on the CVN-72 Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier sent to the coast of Sumatra, arriving just days after the Tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004. We were able to deploy round-the-clock helicopter support to provide food, water, and other supplies. In total, we delivered over 5.9 million pounds of humanitarian supplies.