Nate Ernst Joins the 2026 Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition Advisory Board
Updated: Oct 21
Industry News · May 2026 · The Tactien Group
The Tactien Group is pleased to announce that Nate Ernst, Founder and President of TTG, has joined the 2026 Advisory Board of the Energy Drone & Robotics Coalition (EDRC) ahead of the 10th Annual EDR Summit, taking place June 22–24 in Houston.
The EDRC Advisory Board is made up primarily of program leads and technology managers from some of the largest energy asset owners in the country, including electric utilities, oil & gas operators, and midstream companies. That composition is intentional. The coalition exists to serve end users, and the board is designed to reflect the operators who are running UAS and robotics programs at scale.
What Nate Brings to the Board
Nate founded The Tactien Group after holding operational and advisory roles at the intersection of aviation technology and critical infrastructure. His background extends well beyond Group 1 sUAS. He has commanded Group 1 through 4 commercial UAS operations under Part 91 and Section 44807 authorities, including some of the longest FAA-approved BVLOS missions conducted in the United States to date. His project history spans the largest electric utilities and oil & gas operators in the country, as well as special projects with the FAA, NASA, and the Defense Logistics Agency.
At TTG, the focus has always been on the full program lifecycle: not just procurement, but whether a program or use case is worth building in the first place, what the business case actually looks like, what a CONOPS needs to account for before it goes in front of a regulator, and how to vet performance claims for specific environments. That work spans C-UAS validation, manned/unmanned integration, technology vetting and red-teaming, regulatory strategy, and program stand-up across infrastructure clients in electric, oil & gas, water, and data center sectors.
Why This Matters
The advisory board shapes the content and conversations at the EDR Summit. It decides which use cases get a platform, which problems get prioritized, and where the industry's attention should be directed heading into the next cycle of program development.
Having someone at that table who has evaluated technology on behalf of dozens of operators across multiple sectors, without a commercial stake in the outcome, adds a perspective that is genuinely unique. Nate helps operators determine which platforms and approaches actually work for their specific operational context, and just as often, helps them understand what is not yet justified and why.
That's the role he'll play on the board, and it's a role the coalition has needed.
TTG looks forward to representing our clients and the broader operator community at the 10th Annual EDR Summit. If you're planning to attend in Houston this June, we'd welcome the opportunity to connect.
View the full 2026 EDRC Advisory Board:
UAS · C-UAS · BVLOS · Critical Infrastructure · Energy Drone & Robotics · Advisory Board · The Tactien Group
