Harris, Director of Technology
Jim Ziarno is responsible for Commercial UAS Solutions as Director of Technology at Harris Corporation.
Jim has over 35 yrs experience in the design of Commercial Aviation and Avionics Systems. He is the Inventor/Co-inventor of 42 U.S. Patents associated with Commercial Aviation Wireless Data Links and is the inventor of the Harris Ground Data Link System (GDL) which has become known throughout the Commercial Aviation industry as the “Wireless Gatelink” System.
He is the former Director Business Development & Marketing for GE Harris Aviation Information Solutions LLC. He was the liaison with the FAA to obtain STC approvals for multiple aircraft types including; B757, B737 and Bombardier CRJ-100. This technology was developed to automatically and wirelessly analyze Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) “Big Data” and aircraft maintenance data in order to improve “Safety of Flight”. This technology is currently being flown on nearly 1,000 Commercial Aircraft and has become standard equipment on Jumbo aircraft including B787 Dreamliner and the A380.
More recently he was the Technical leader for Harris’ UAS Command Non-Payload Communications Study for the FAA/NextGen Institute for Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS). This study included a comparative analysis of the Technical/Business considerations for both Point-to-Point Beyond Line-of-Sight (PBLOS) and Networked Beyond Line-of-Sight (NBLOS) alternatives.
As Harris’s Director of Technology for Commercial UAS Solutions he is currently developing technology strategies for UAS Surveillance, C2 and UTM. Jim has a BSEE from the University of Miami.