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Meet Noah Ruiz of Skynetwest LLC in Southeast Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Noah Ruiz.

Noah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Born and raised in Chandler, Arizona, I graduated from Chandler High School and after a few years of wandering around with no specific intentions, I joined the United States Army to become an Infantryman and fight alongside our service members in Southern Baghdad. After my service contract ended, I came back to Arizona to go to school for Mechanical Maintenance Engineering and work in Semi-Conductor plants around Arizona until I saw the news, about someone using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or “drones” to take fancy pictures of houses. I knew that minute I wanted in on the market. 1 October 2015 was the start of Skynetwest.

Infantryman turned Entrepreneur, from Grunt to President & CEO, In Chandler, Arizona, We built Skynetwest, a sustainable enterprise from the ground up with a small team of skilled and detail-oriented visionaries to become one of the standards in the UAS industry. Our mission is to create and implement the most innovative and technically advanced UAS applications to improve the safety and security of the Americas Infrastructure Inspection Program.

I am the Founder of Skynetwest, which consists of teams of Data Retrieval Specialists collecting high value data for Asset Digitization and Visual Data Management. Our Vision is to contribute to the backbone of the UAS industry by building efficient and effective criteria to Inspect Americas Infrastructure. By design, we want to improve the health and wealth of one of the most valuable assets not only in this great country but across the world by using UAS technology to build a better world for tomorrow, from the sky down.

From Managing business to advocating for the industry, Currently Adjunct Instructor for the Unmanned Vehicle University, UAS Industry Advisory Board member for Arizona State University Aviation Program, and recently a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University for the Unmanned Systems Program, I am determined to continue to establish standards for Safe, Legal, and Professional UAS Operations for all those who can benefit from the technology.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has certainly not been an easy path. Starting a business in a new industry has taken years to craft the right business model. Starting out in Aerial Photography and Videography, like everyone else, the drones were made is so that anyone could do the work. Taking fancy pictures of houses was easy. But it wasn’t enough, we wanted more and dove into the Infrastructure Inspection sector. Financing a 40k Unmanned System in a new industry was not an easy task especially from the Chase bank Perspective. Educating potential clients and customers took up the majority of our time as the industry was brand new and nobody knew the extent of what UAS can be used for.  The barriers to entry were high but we crossed them successfully. After 2 years, we secured a contract with the largest Electrical Utility Firm in Arizona to conduct Infrastructure Inspection.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Skynetwest gives a clear view of the world around us, providing engineers actionable data in a fraction of the time. We conduct data retrieval for mapping and infrastructure inspection projects safer, faster, and more accurately with the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems. We design 3D flight plans to build inspection worthy 3D models for engineers to conduct their work from the comfort of their desks. We fly over large parcels of land to get surveyors accurate measurable data to plan and design accordingly.

We Specialize in Data Retrieval for Engineers and Surveyors. We let them be the experts in their field while we are experts with accurate data retrieval methods. What sets us apart, we fly professional-grade equipment that is not tied to a network of any kind and keep control and security of our data. We flight over, around, and inside critical infrastructure which is why the data and the cybersecurity are paramount with the work we do.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up in Chandler was exciting, being able to recall the changes to the city, new freeways being built, watching what was once cow farms turn into housing. When I was young,  I was athletic and pushed the boundaries in everything I did from school to sports. I always wanted to be the best at everything did and was very competitive.   I have always been detailed oriented and extremely observant. I started skateboarding when I was in 4th grade and still skateboard to this day. I was motivated and driven to be the best I could be.  It all has followed me throughout life and has been interesting to figure out how to use it within my vision for life, strategically.

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