ABOUT US
MEET THE BOARD
Shawn Milne, Cache County Economic Development Director
Shawn Milne is Cache County’s economic development director. Formerly, he served as the chairman of the Utah Association of Councils and Commissioners. He settled in Tooele County to start a small business and quickly began to see the area’s potential. With a vision to bring high technology jobs to Tooele County through the promotion of the AAM industry, Shawn has helped the county innovate and excel.
Shawn Milne, Cache County Economic Development Director
Deseret UAS Board Chair
Jerry Houhgton, Treasurer
Jerry Houhgton was elected as Tooele County Recorder in 2010 and as Tooele County Recorder/Surveyor in 2014. He serves on the Deseret UAS Board of Directors. He is a local Tooele businessman and was the 1996 Chamber of Commerce and Tourism President. Deseret UAS benefits from his demonstrated history of working with local government administration and industry. He graduated from Utah State University with a BA in Business and is a Retired Air Force Reserve Senior Master Sergeant.
Jerry Houghton, Deseret UAS Secretary and Treasurer
Stan Summers, Box Elder County Commissioner
Stan Summers is the Box Elder Commission Chair and president of the Utah Association of Counties. He’s been involved in the organization throughout his tenure on the Box Elder County Commission, working his way up through the ranks to now holding the top position on the UAC board.
Stan Summers, Box Elder County Commissioner
Jeff Hadfield, Board Member, Box Elder County Commissioner
Jeff Hadfield is a commissioner for Box Elder County where he counts as his successes helping the county achieve low unemployment, get out of debt, and has created 1,200 jobs in the county. He was instrumental in the development of the UAS Flight Test Range at the Northrop Grumman facility in Box Elder County. He is also a local businessman and brings his business skills to county government. Mr. Hadfield serves on numerous board of directors, including the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah), Utah Association of Counties (UAC), and the Brigham City Community Hospital. He holds a B.A. Degree in Technical Sales, Weber State University.
Jeff Hadfield, Box Elder County Commissioner
MEET THE STAFF
Muriel Xochimitl, Communications Director
Muriel Xochimitl is the President and Founder of X-Factor Strategic Communications. Prior to founding X-Factor, Muriel served as the Communications and Government Affairs Director for the Wasatch Front Regional Council and as the communications manager for the Utah Department of Transportation. Muriel has also worked as a Project Manager for The Langdon Group.
Muriel Xochimitl, Communications Director
Jill Brown, Finance Director
Jill Brown serves as Deseret UAS finance director. She began her career working for multiple small businesses performing strategic accounting and business operations. Ms. Brown brings Deseret UAS 14 years of non-profit and governmental accounting, budgeting, and reporting experience. Ms Brown holds a B.S. for the University of Utah. She was a Dean’s List Academic All-American student athlete at the University of Utah.
Jill Brown, Finance Director
Jeremiah Riley, Outside Counsel
Jeremiah Riley acts as outside counsel for Deseret UAS. He founded Premise Law in 2015 to advise businesses that work closely with state and federal government. Over the prior decade, he was a part owner of a federal prime contractor and represented company interests before the U.S. Congress. He has been an advisor to several Utah AAM projects, including Box Elder’s build out of the Northrop Grumman flight test range. Mr. Rieley holds a J.D. from the University of Utah, SJ Quinney College of Law, and a B.S. from Utah State University, Huntsman School of Business, Logan, Utah
Jeremiah Riley, Outside Counsel
Dr. Cal Coopmans, AggieAir Head Operations
Dr. Coopmans is AggieAir’s head researcher and systems engineer. He oversees the organization’s platform, payloads, sensors, and avionics development as well as full system integration and testing. He has expertise in aerial and ground robotics, unmanned systems, embedded/real time systems, digital and analog controls, DSP, Linux kernels and Unix operating systems, networking (TCP/IP, UDP, etc.) all levels of software development (assembly, C/C++/C#, Perl, Python, Java, etc.), mechatronics, electrical hardware design and implementation, mechanical design and materials. Dr. Coopmans holds a Masters and Ph.D of Electrical Engineering from Utah State University.
Dr. Cal Coopmans, AggieAir Head Operations
Daniel Robinson, AggieAir Aviation Technician
Daniel Robinson is AggieAir’s aviation technician, specializing in safety and test piloting, as well as data analysis through the utilization of AAM technologies. He is currently Flight Director UWRL at Utah State University as well as USU Drone Minor Adjunct.