From crashing prototypes in a dusty Cal Poly field to leading the core technology behind Inspired Flight’s U.S.-made drone platforms, Tyler VanDenBerg has been at the heart of IFT’s engineering evolution since the beginning. A Mechanical Engineer with a passion for solving real-world problems, Tyler’s journey reflects the company’s DNA: hands-on, customer-focused, and relentlessly curious.
What started as a student’s fascination with “flying robots” quickly turned into a career defined by innovation and resilience. Over the years, Tyler has helped shape Inspired Flight’s aircraft into dependable workhorses trusted across industries, while championing collaboration between Engineering, Flight Ops, and Customer Success teams. His leadership philosophy centers on learning from the field, balancing cutting-edge development with uncompromising reliability, and keeping the mission front and center in every design decision.
When did Inspired Flight first get on your radar, and what made you say yes?
I first heard about Inspired Flight through a fellow Cal Poly student who was an Engineering Intern at IFT. As a Mechanical Engineering student myself, the idea of developing UAVs was enticing. Who wouldn't want to work on a flying robot executing cutting edge missions? I immediately cold-called the CEO, met them at the field that day and watched them crash a prototype drone spectacularly. He asked me what I thought, I told him I wanted in, and the rest is history.
What was your first project here, and what did it teach you about how we build?
On day one I hit the ground working on Mechanical improvements in Solidworks. Being a company of 5 people (including myself), I quickly learned to wear multiple hats, which allowed me to obtain a solid grasp on the entire design process.
Looking back, what milestone from your first year still shapes your approach today?
Something our small team picked up on fairly quickly was that I loved working with our customers to facilitate successful use of our products. I was taken to trade shows, demos, and trainings all over the country. Although I provided valuable technical insight to our customers, they provided me with something far more valuable - direct feedback from the folks using our systems. The lessons learned in those first few years still shape the customer-first approach I push our team towards.
Tell us about a moment in the field that changed how you think about reliability?
In 2019 I had the privilege of joining a LiDAR manufacturer and film crew on an expedition to the mountains of Peru, where we flew over the jungles of the Andes Mountains in search of pre-Incan ruins. This was a full-scale operation that included a film crew, plane rides, ATV rides up a river on dirt roads, equipment carried on horseback, machete chopping through the rainforest, and climbing to a clearing at the top of a mountain where we stayed for multiple nights. I originally brought two aircraft with me, but after one was confiscated at the border, the success of the entire operation hinged on a single drone flying at altitudes we had never tested before. If the drone failed, we were all there for no reason. That was the moment I realized the importance of reliability.
When you think about IF800 Tomcat and IF1200A as platforms, what principles guide your decisions?
A unique challenge of being in the drone world is that although we have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology at a rapid pace, we are also in the aerospace world where reliability, safety, and testing are of utmost importance. Finding a balance that allows us to move quickly without compromising the rest is a core principle I hold myself and my team to at IFT.
What detail in our hardware design quietly saves customers time during a payload swap?
Something I love about IFT is that good ideas are always heard and often implemented, no matter their source. The Pro Damping Kit system is a great example of this - a clever system of quick-release hardware that allows a customer to toollessly switch out every aspect of their payload, including the damping plate. The Pro Damping Kit saves an immense amount of time during payload swapping and CG adjusting in the field, and has been critically acclaimed by our customers.
What are you most excited to ship next year that customers will feel on day one?
An exciting new product we're rolling out is a Universal MicaSense Kit, which will allow a customer to integrate any of the three main MicaSense cameras onto either of our aircraft without the need to send back the camera or the drone.
What capability will separate true workhorses in 2026, beyond a spec sheet?
Our focus at IFT is not technology-based; it is mission-based. True workhorses you don't worry about, you don't fiddle with, and they don't hold up the mission. I believe companies that will stand out in this regard in the coming years will be those who use their customers' feedback to streamline the mission around a robust system that perfectly executes every time.
If you could speed up one enabling technology for the next two years, what would it be and why?
I've vehemently told others over coffee for over a decade that energy storage is the biggest bottleneck to all modern technology, and this couldn't be more true for the drone space. Lighter, more energy-efficient batteries (or perhaps another energy alternative) would transform what is possible with a multirotor aircraft.
What habit has your team adopted that has improved quality across the board?
No matter how much experience an individual has, anyone can miss a detail or make a mistake. The habit of getting a second or third set of eyes on critical features, designs, or test plans has saved us more time and money than we can likely quantify, and has undoubtedly improved communication across our team.
How do you coach newer engineers to balance clean design with real-world grit?
As someone who has an artistic background, I often had to remind myself not to get too caught up in the aesthetics of a design. Aesthetic features in Engineering design also often add the most complexity, making modifications more difficult. When mentoring younger Engineers, I always suggest starting with critical functionality, even if the design is dead ugly. If the prototype meets all functional requirements, aesthetics can then come quickly to round out the final design.
What does “Your mission, our craft” mean to you on a build day?
"Your mission, our craft" is my favorite tagline we've had so far at IFT. It stresses the importance we place on producing a product that focuses on the end goal being a successful mission, not merely putting a product in a box. It is also a perfect reminder for every IFT team member throughout the build process and helps make them ask the question, "If this isn't done properly, will it affect the mission?".