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TRU Students Make History With Award Winning Idea

<who> Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow

Two Thompson Rivers University students are being recognized for making history.

Robert Atwood, a 2015 TRU Natural Resource Science graduate, and Richard Sullivan, a bachelor of business student, founded Hummingbird Drones, which is the only company in North America to use Unmanned Aerial Devices for wildfire suppression.

The pair came up with the idea after working for the B.C. Wildfire Service in 2014.

“[Sullivan] was my crew leader, and we were part of the initial attack team. We could see then how many opportunities and applications there would be for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Devices) during wildfires,” said Atwood.

<who> Photo Credit: TRU.ca

Their idea took off with help from the TRU Generator, which provides mentorship, education, funding and support for aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as added support from Venture Kamloops.

“It was absolutely critical in our development — we certainly wouldn’t be here without The Generator, I can’t emphasize this enough,” said Atwood.

Their overwhelming success has earned them the Startup Canada Young Entrepreneur Award, which will be presented at the Startup Canada Awards in Vancouver on November 4th.

“It takes a moment to digest all the things we’ve accomplished — it has far and away exceeded my expectations,” said Atwood.



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