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Biography
Mr. Philip “PB” Brandt (Lieutenant Colonel/O-5, USAF Retired) is currently a Senior Research Scientist for the Research Institute for Autonomous Systems (RIAS) at the University of North Dakota (UND). His personal and professional studies focus on autonomous systems, human-machine teaming viewed from a humanist perspective, the responsibilities of the human operator in modern aerial mission planning and navigation, and the works of Colonel John Boyd.
While serving on active duty with the USAF, Philip served in multiple leadership roles. He led command and staff teams in the $5.2B RQ-4 Global Hawk bed-down at a new main operating base, served as Operations Director for a $265M airfield and 4200 square miles of airspace with 135,000+ flight operations annually, and founded a quarterly gathering of 80+ top-tier users and operators from more than 12 operational units to discuss modernization needs that directly influenced air staff programmatic priorities. As an Assistant Professor of Aviation in the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at UND, he created an entirely original set of Uncrewed Aircraft System Operations degree courses preparing the next generation of aerospace industry leaders. He also contributes regularly to various research, business, and talent development efforts, bringing to bear an audacious “fight for the yes” mindset that enable his teams to devise novel solutions to complex and entrenched problems.
RIAS benefits greatly from his leadership, research, business, and talent development efforts. He is currently serving as Co-Principal Investigator for several national security and defense research efforts, including development of an Augmented Reality system for the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), advanced autonomous mission execution capabilities for uncrewed systems under the Dark Swarms in Degraded Environments (DSIDE) program, and evaluation of and fielding recommendation for a “one-to-many” autonomous system management software set for use by infantry soldiers through Project Peace Garden.
Philip possesses a Master of Arts in Education, with a focus on Curriculum and Instruction, and a Bachelor of Arts in Literature. He holds USAF Senior Pilot and Navigator aeronautical ratings as well as FAA commercial and instrument airplane and helicopter licenses. He has over 1,600 hours total flight time in the RQ-4B “Global Hawk” autonomous high-altitude long-endurance UAS, HH-60G “Pave Hawk” combat rescue helicopter, EC-130H “Compass Call” electronic attack aircraft, UH-1H “Huey” helicopter, T-37 “Tweet” jet trainer, and various civil training aircraft. He is also a factory-certified operator and technician for UAV Factory's Penguin-C UAS.
AVIT 208
AVIT 239
AVIT 240
AVIT 411
AVIT 450
AVIT 485