Mr. Schrage is a dedicated family man and is very active and compassionate about his community. His experience with remote vehicles goes all the way back to his childhood when the "Typhoon Hovercraft", a gift from his father and a "Heads Up Steering" RC car, a gift from his grandfather, originally sparked his love and passion for remote technology. Since then, he has logged thousands of hours operating remote vehicles including airplanes, helicopters and of course the new quad/hex/octo-copters. Originally Mr. Schrage flew as a hobby, but a gift from his wife renewed his childhood passion and drove him to put his skill for flying to good use. After receiving his FAA Remote Pilot Certificate and a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certificate from the State of Illinois, Schrage Consulting was born.
"There's just something about operating these machines that draws me. As a child, I would never have imagined that this technology would be available in my lifetime. I'm excited to be a part of this great era of technology and am anxious to see what will be available in the future."
Mr. Schrage began his career in the electrical construction industry as an estimator with a St. Louis, MO area electrical contractor.
"I didn't know anything about the electrical industry but they gave me a chance and I was determined to be the best that I could. I learned the materials, studied the prints, asked questions and spent as much time in the field as possible. I wanted to see it all and learn everything I could."
Several years later, now with an Electrical Engineering Degree and PMP Certificate, he began working with another area electrical contractor as their Senior Project Manager.
"I could always remember crossing the Poplar Street Bridge into St. Louis and looking up at the large lattice towers that stood on the banks of the Mississippi and being in awe of how someone had built them."
It was just a short time later that a large River Crossing project was awarded to his employer.
"I was so excited to be assigned to this project, it was literally a childhood dream come true."
The project was a great success coming in ahead of schedule, under budget and with zero safety incidents.
The UAS industry in seeing unprecedented growth and there's no shortage of UAV's that are being brought to the market.
"I don't let the bright shiny new gadget catch my eye, we are about what can provide our clients with the information they need, for a price that's within their budget."
The future is bright for both sUAS's and larger UAS's. Thermal, IR, LiDAR, Zoom are all capabilities that are getting smaller and smaller while still retaining all the functionality of their previous models. Soon, UAS's will be the go to system for retrieving almost every piece of information needed from all the various projects a PM or Company Is planning or active constructing.
"The risk and cost of providing a sUAS program is something that a lot of companies don't want to take on, and rightfully so. Trying to find, train and maintain certified pilots is very difficult. A lot of new pilots are just that, new and the equipment is difficult to maintain. This is where Schrage Consulting can step in and provide many of these companies with the services they need and take on the risks they don't."
No matter what comes next, Schrage Consulting will continue to provide the experience and capabilities that clients are looking for, both now and in the future.