Vanguard’s latest Game Changer is Erinn van Wynsberghe. He founded VanWyn Aerospace Logistics a few years ago by developing a concept. “My start-up company’s project began when I developed the concept of a high-altitude, geostationary payload platform as part of my graduate thesis,” he said. He went on to relate that it started out as a theoretical project in developing the mathematical models involved. But as he continued, he realized that if he could solve the core issue of getting sufficient power to high-altitude craft for extended periods of time, he could transform this theoretical work into a practical solution for a wide range of sectors including Defence (C4ISR), industry (surveying, telecom) and government (science, environment and astronomy). “I discovered that I could solve the power dilemma using wireless power transmission from ground to the craft,” he said. That led to the start of his company. “Over the past several years with the help of my local start-up incubators (The Forge and Innovation Factory) and numerous mentors and strategic partners from a wide variety of industries including National Defence, I found myself where I am today,” he said. “Developing our concept into a working model, constructing a full-scale prototype, and creating a profitable business by providing a valuable market solution.” Today, Erinn van Wynsberghe is the President and CEO of VanWyn Aerospace Logistics. Here is the full interview. What is your role at your organization today? As the founder of this start-up company, I tend to wear many hats. I am the President and CEO, the chief engineer, the promoter, and the cheerleader of my team. I make all the tough calls, resolve all the problems, and ensure everything gets done. I divide my day between leading and inspiring my people, forging new business relationships, pitching our product, reporting to my investors, and advancing our technology toward construction of a full-scale prototype to prepare for market entry. What was your most challenging moment? Flight day. We recently completed construction of our first-generation proof-of-concept demo model and undertook our first flight test. Many months of calculations, modeling, and construction all boiled down to this one day, so it was understandably tense. Not surprisingly there were complications, and it was certainly frustrating to see that all our theory and planning didn’t exactly match up to real life. Fortunately, we persevered, made changes, and had a perfect test flight the following week. The lessons learned from that experience helped provide for an even more robust design. In the end, those challenges helped us grow and improve, so it was worth the frustration. What was your A-HA moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our reader, tell us that story? In early days, we presented our concept to a wide range of prospective clients. In one particular meeting with a couple of military commanders, things quickly fell into place for the defence sector. Those officers excitedly described to us many possible uses they envisioned for our product, such as forward operating bases, arctic sovereignty, line-of-sight reach-back, and autonomy from foreign satellites. It was then that we had our “A-HA” moment. We realized then that we had a winning concept and a solution that was needed and awaited. What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? I am thrilled at the ever-increasing list of possible uses for our product, the “Sitallite” and all the enthusiastic responses we’ve received throughout the industry from potential customers, partners, and investors. I keep learning every day from advisors with deep knowledge of the armed forces market about how we are well-positioned to make a meaningful and sustainable contribution. I find that...