State initiative pairs innovative companies with state departments to demonstrate advanced air mobility technologies in real-world government applications

DETROIT: The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME) selected five companies to deploy Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) technologies that will help state departments improve public services and address operational challenges across Michigan.

These five pilots, funded through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform’s AAM Statewide Mobility Challenges, administered and managed by NextEnergy, were selected through a competitive challenge process. The projects pair companies with state departments to demonstrate how drone and aerial technologies can strengthen public safety, improve infrastructure management, support environmental stewardship and make government operations more efficient. The deployments advance Michigan's Advanced Air Mobility Initiative and build on the state's commitment to accelerating real-world adoption of next-generation mobility technologies.

“One of the best ways to accelerate innovation is to put new technologies in the hands of the people who can use them every day," said Michigan Chief Mobility Officer Justine Johnson. "These projects will give state departments the opportunity to evaluate advanced air mobility technologies in real operating environments while helping participating companies demonstrate and refine their solutions. By bringing government and industry together, we're creating a pathway to deploy technologies that improve public services and strengthen Michigan's leadership in mobility innovation."

The selected projects span five state departments and demonstrate how advanced air mobility technologies can address a range of public-sector needs, from environmental monitoring and infrastructure management to public safety and agriculture.

Selected Projects

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) & Kohtari

Kohtari will deploy advanced aerial sensing capabilities to support real-time air and water quality monitoring, environmental incident response and data collection efforts that improve situational awareness and decision-making.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) & Orb Aerospace

Orb Aerospace will utilize vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone technology to enhance aerial mapping capabilities, strengthen wildfire monitoring efforts and support natural resource management across Michigan.

Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) & Westwood AI

Westwood AI will develop a road intelligence platform that integrates drone and vehicle-generated data to improve infrastructure awareness, roadway assessments and transportation system management.

Michigan State Police (MSP) & Motorola Solutions

Motorola Solutions will deploy advanced drone detection capabilities to enhance public safety operations, improve situational awareness and support security planning for major events and critical infrastructure.

Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) & AVOL

AVOL will modernize pesticide drift investigations through aerial technologies capable of collecting hazardous samples, detecting pesticide residues and visualizing crop and plant damage, improving both efficiency and investigator safety.

About the State of Michigan Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Initiative

On July 17, 2025, Michigan established the Michigan Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Initiative as a whole-of-government strategy to scale Michigan’s AAM capabilities, ensure safe and efficient integration of these technologies across public and private sectors, and position our workforce, manufacturers and infrastructure as national assets in the deployment of AAM technologies. This Initiative will support the Unleashing American Drone Dominance Executive Federal Orders from June of 2025. Read Executive Directive 2025-4.

Projects were selected through a rigorous competitive process designed to connect innovative technology companies with real-world government challenges. The initiative demonstrates how Michigan is leveraging public-private partnerships to accelerate the adoption of advanced air mobility technologies while delivering meaningful benefits to residents.

Learn more about these challenge statements and the State of Michigan Advanced Air Mobility Initiative.

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy

"The Statewide Mobility Challenge will help accelerate new mobility solutions that support cleaner, more efficient transportation across Michigan. These innovations offer valuable opportunities to strengthen environmental protection and advance sustainable practices statewide. We’re excited to partner in driving forward technologies that can benefit communities and the environment alike." - Ann Larson, Deputy Director, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

Kohtari

“We’re incredibly excited to bring Kohtari’s drone-powered monitoring, sampling and BloomIQ predictive intelligence platform to Michigan’s waters. By delivering safer, more frequent and more cost-effective insight across the Grand River watershed, this project can help teams act sooner on water quality and algal bloom risk, while creating a scalable model for other watersheds and supporting the wider growth of water innovation in the Great Lakes region.” - James Sumsion, CEO, Kohtari

Michigan Department of Transportation

“Harnessing advanced aerial mobility technologies can help agencies see incidents from a clear perspective, respond faster on the ground, and keep congestion from becoming chaos. Incidents and congestion on our roadways can quickly become dangerous for first responders and other drivers, but this technology can improve safety for everyone on our roadways.” - Bradley C. Wieferich, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation

Westwood AI

“As a former firefighter, I know what it’s like to arrive on scene and be asked to make critical decisions with limited information and no clear picture of what’s happening beyond your immediate view. Through AeroRanger and our partnerships with the Keweenaw Research Center, the Michigan Air National Guard, and other specialized response teams, we're working to change that by giving first responders the real-time situational awareness they need to respond faster, operate safer, and ultimately save more lives. Every responder deserves access to the best tools available when lives are on the line.” - Dakoyta Greenman, CEO, Westwood AI

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

“From wildfire monitoring and prescribed burn planning to wildlife management and natural disaster response, our people are at their best in every situation when armed with the most complete information. This partnership is exciting because of the ability to gather more valuable data and mapping, and with greater speed and accuracy. That means better, more precise information that will help the DNR in all facets of natural resources management and public safety.” - Scott Bowen, Director, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

Orb Aerospace

“Orb Aerospace and Michigan DNR are teaming up to help Michigan prepare for autonomous flight operations at scale. Orb Lassie and ARC Edge provide a powerful combination of technologies to exceed DNR aviation mission capabilities and provide interoperability across Michigan state agencies.” - Brian Davis, Co-Founder and CEO, Orb Aerospace.

Michigan State Police

“The Michigan State Police Special Operations Division looks forward to exploring how emerging drone detection capabilities can be utilized to further enhance safety and law enforcement response in our state.” - Col. James F. Grady II, Director, Michigan State Police

Motorola Solutions

“From daily operations to crowded stadiums and special events, agencies need real-time awareness of developments across their airspace. Michigan State Police is a leader in the adoption of technology to help protect communities from the growing risk of unauthorized drones. By identifying and tracking airspace activity, they can make faster, more informed decisions that support public safety.” - Todd Piett, Senior Vice President of Command Center and Cloud Solutions, Motorola Solutions.

MDARD

“MDARD's mission is to improve quality of life for Michiganders, which includes delivering efficient and effective programming. Leveraging drone technology to assist the department's pesticide investigations will improve our processes and build on our work of ensuring compliance and protecting human health – which includes the health of our investigators. The department is excited to see this project get off the ground.” - Brian Verhougstraete, Division Director-Pesticides and Plant Pest Management Division, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD)

Avol

"The Avol team is looking forward to our Michigan pilot using advanced aerial mobility technologies to target pesticide-drift sampling. Avol aims to reduce pesticide-drift investigation times while achieving precision detection, creating a pathway to Michigan-based operations, manufacturing partnerships, and reducing thousands of labor hours and mitigating potential jobsite risk, while expanding its aircraft capabilities to include surveying, data gathering, and intelligence." - Nate Poon, Co-Founder & CEO, Avol

About the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME)

The Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification works across state government, academia and private industry to enhance Michigan’s mobility ecosystem, including developing dynamic mobility and electrification policies and supporting the startup and scale-up of emerging technologies and businesses. Learn more at Michigan.gov/OFME.

Fonte: Business Wire