David Dvorak is the founder and current CEO of Field of View, which specializes in solutions for drone mapping, inspection, and surveying. The company began in 2010 with an emphasis in agriculture mapping. Currently, Field of View specializes in the products that drone service providers can utilize to capture images while flying over specific locations. “We chose the name Field of View in 2010 because of it’s connection to agriculture, but it has turned out to be an excellent title because field of view is also a technical term for how wide of an image a camera can capture,” explained David.
Dream Job to Start-Up
In 2005, David Dvorak moved from St. Cloud, Minnesota to study mechanical engineering at the University of North Dakota. During his sophomore year, David began his ‘dream job,’ working with drones in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Engineering (UASE) Lab. The start of Field of View came from the excitement and energy for the fast-growing drone industry at UND. “I was so interested in the research taking place at UND that I got my undergrad and Masters degrees researching it… then I decided to stay in town and start Field of View with fellow graduates,” shared David.
David credits much of his passion for the drone industry to Dr. William Semke who provided a job opportunity through the UASE lab at UND. For over 4 years, David gained experience in the drone industry that is now used to better connect with Field of View customers. “In our first years of business we were young, gained positive attention in the State of North Dakota, and gained financial support through competitions like Innovate ND and grants,” explained David.
Transition and Growth Ahead
Over the course of Field of View’s seven-year existence, there has been a transition from service provider to solutions provider in the drone industry. “We were too early to the drone services industry,” says David. The company began in 2010 with a goal to provide a drone imaging service for customers by flying over a field, taking images, and providing data. However, the regulations for drone usage at that time were a hindrance to this plan, which led David and the Field of View team in another direction.
“Because of drone flight regulations, we made a transition in 2013 to sell some of our created technology as products and began offering customers consulting, training and seminars about our products and software,” explained David. Currently, Field of View has three main products including GeoSnap, photogrammetry software, and Geotility software. These products are tools created to attach to drones or software to process images into usable data by customers.
David describes the Field of View team as an “engineering-heavy company that is super passionate about the created technology and connecting with customers.” The team currently includes co-owner Danny Hajicek, Chief Operating Officer Kaci Lemler, and Electrical Engineer Francisco Madera. With the drone industry rapidly advancing, David sees endless possibilities across multiple industries beyond agriculture including surveying, civil engineering, construction, and environmental surveys for Field of View moving into the future.
Learn more from David Dvorak and Field of View as he speaks at 1 Million Cups Fargo on Wednesday, July 5th, 2017 at 9:15 a.m. at The Stage at Island Park.
