Pierce Aerospace Appoints Michelle Duquette and Warren Katz to its Board of Directors

July 22, 2025

July 22, 2025, Fishers, IN — Pierce Aerospace announced that it has appointed industry veterans Michelle Duquette and Warren Katz to its Board of Directors. Duquette is a seasoned aviation expert and most recently served as a Senior Principal at The MITRE Corporation, where she was the UAS Portfolio Manager. Katz is a well-known government sector entrepreneur and investor with successful exits, and is currently Chairman at The Alliance for Commercial Technology in Government.

Duquette brings a wealth of deep domain expertise to Pierce Aerospace. Her experience in commercial airline and federal aviation operations is unique to her role as one of the industry’s top UAS leaders and thinkers. At The MITRE Corporation, Duquette managed a multi-million-dollar research portfolio and counseled the FAA and DOD on technical advancements, security vulnerabilities, forecasting, and regulatory matters, while fostering government-industry collaboration. In addition to her new Director role at Pierce Aerospace, she is the recent founder and CEO of 3 MAD Air, a consultancy focused on UAS and AAM operations, civil-military integration, and public-private partnerships.

“Michelle is one of the most respected leaders and visionaries in the UAS industry and I have looked up to her guidance for years,” said Aaron Pierce, CEO of Pierce Aerospace. “It is an honor that Michelle has joined our team at such a pivotal time of development and advancement in the UAS industry. Her insight and position as a guiding light are well aligned with our mission, our values, and our path to providing value to our audiences.” 

“I’ve watched Aaron grow his company from the very beginning,” said Duquette. “His genuine quest to provide meaningful services to government and industry is supported by keen business sense, technical depth, and a north star that matches my own. Joining the Pierce Aerospace Board of Directors provides a unique opportunity to merge our visions for innovation, interoperability, and leadership in low-altitude sensing and identification, paving the way for groundbreaking advancements. I am thrilled and honored to have been selected to join Aaron and Gary Bullock [CTO] on this journey!”

Katz previously co-founded MÄK Technologies in 1990, a leader in the distributed simulation market, which was later acquired by VT Systems. He’s a champion of interoperability standards, having received numerous industry awards, and has since gone on to mentor, invest in, and lead initiatives that have helped shape a better industry-government business ecosystem. He previously served as the President of Neurala, a leading AI company, and currently advocates for policy improvement and reducing barriers for the private tech sector and small businesses to do business with the US Government. 

“Warren is a legend when it comes to small business government contracting. He helped define the use case of what a small business success story looks like for the SBIR program,” said Pierce. “Warren has a history with Pierce Aerospace. He briefly worked with Gary Bullock, our CTO, when Gary was with the US Navy and I worked for him as an Entrepreneur in Residence while he was the Managing Director for the US Air Force Accelerator Powered by Techstars. While on the hunt for Directors, I sought out candidates that we could trust to challenge the team, drive successful strategy, and continuously make us better – we didn’t have to look very far.” 

“The definition of luck is opportunity meeting preparedness. Aaron and the Pierce Aerospace team have been steadily preparing for the last 7 years for the day when identification of drones in US airspace became a priority,” said Katz. “That day has come and Pierce is well-positioned to be the leading company for drone ID products and services in the nation and the world.”

About Pierce Aerospace

Pierce Aerospace, a Techstars-backed company, is a dual-use IoT and aerospace company and drone Remote ID service provider focused on robust integration of Remote ID services into the UAS ecosystem. As an industry leader, Pierce Aerospace serves on the FAA’s Drone Safety Team, ASTM F38 Committee on Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and the FAA Detection and Mitigation Advanced Rulemaking Committee. Funds from the U.S. Air Force and the State of Indiana support Pierce Aerospace’s Remote ID technology, which was nominated as Indiana’s Innovation of the Year by Techpoint and awarded first place in Remote ID technology at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International’s Excellence Awards. Pierce Aerospace was awarded the Techpoint Mira Award as Indiana’s most innovative tech team. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the racing capital of the world. Visit www.pierceaerospace.net.