Featured Speakers Include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, NASA Dryden Director David McBride

RESTON, Va.--The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will host a March symposium on the nonmilitary uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The "AIAA Policy Symposium: Civilian Applications of UAVs - A California Perspective" will take place March 26-28, 2013, at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

The event is co-hosted by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom; California State Assemblymembers Jeff Gorell (44th District), Katcho Achadjian (35th District), Steven Bradford (62nd District), Connie Conway (26th District), Christina Garcia (58th District), Curt Hagman (55th District), and Al Muratsuchi (66th District); and California State Senators Joel Anderson (36th District), Anthony Cannella (12th District), and Steve Knight (21st District).

In addition to the event's hosts, other featured speakers include Kish Rajan, director, California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development; Janis Pamiljans, vice president and general manager, Unmanned Air Systems, Northrop Grumman Corp.; Bill Buratto, president and chief executive officer, Ventura County Economic Development Association; Geoff Dean, sheriff of Ventura County; Scott Brewer, director of operations, Center for Asymmetric Warfare; David D. McBride, director, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center; Michael Francis, chief, advanced programs, United Technologies Research Center; and David Kennedy, consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton.

Among the topics that the event will explore are "California's Aerospace Industry: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"; "State and Local Government Opportunities for Economic Development, Job Creation, and Education in the UAV Industry"; "Public Safety - Future of UAVs for Law Enforcement, Fire, Emergency Management, Border Patrol, First Responders"; and "Current and Future Innovative Use of UAVs in Commercial Applications (Communications, Agriculture, Filmmaking, etc.)."

Sponsors for the policy symposium include: Premier Sponsor: Northrop Grumman; Gold Sponsors: The Gene Haas Foundation; Southern California Gas Company, a Sempra Energy utility; and AeroVironment; and Silver Sponsor: the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

For more information about the "AIAA Policy Symposium: Civilian Applications of UAVs - A California Perspective," or to register, please visit www.aiaa.org/CAuav or contact Ross B. Garelick Bell, Space, Defense, and National Security Policy, at rossb@aiaa.org. Registration is complimentary for credentialed members of the media.

Follow the "AIAA Policy Symposium: Civilian Applications of UAVs - A California Perspective" on Twitter at #aiaaCAUAV

AIAA is the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, please visit www.aiaa.org.