Eyes Toward the Sky

Quaternion Aerospace, which is tucked into the industrial park just east of the Victoria International Airport, has been doing consulting and design work on unmanned aircraft for the U.S. Air Force but is starting to establish itself as a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles and flight systems.

"We are seeing if we can manoeuvre and establish a viable business model [because] we see plenty of applications for it," says vice-president of research and development Afzal Suleman, who is also a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Victoria.

Suleman, who had established contacts with the U.S. Air Force 20 years ago as a visiting scientist, started the company in 2007 to do consulting and testing, and landed a contract to evaluate a Boeing unmanned aircraft design.

The company is to submit conclusions on the design and factors like stress next spring. And while that project continues, they have other test contracts and have started to design and build a suite of products including unmanned aircraft, ground control and autopilot systems and telemetry software.

"We now have a total solution available," says Suleman.

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