
Our Team
EEI Management – Board of Directors


Dom Smith BSC (Hons)
Director of Operations
Alex Kasperczyk BA (Hons)
Director of Business Development
Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper KBE RAF
Chairman – Non-Executive Director
Mike Horton
Non-Executive DirectorEEI Senior Management Team

Kevin Taylor
Head Of Academy - RUSTA
Dave Blackburn
Chief Pilot Instructor
Kate Dodd FCA
Financial Manager
Jessica Baddams
Training Manager
Adrian Hattersley
Head of Business Services
Adrian Hattersley
Head of Business ServicesAdrian has joined EEI as the Head of Business Services having served more than 17 years in the RAF. His early career was predominantly spent in UK national air defence operations and RAF recruitment. Over the last 5 years, Adrian has served as the Squadron Operations Officer on both 29 Squadron and XIII Squadron, working with the Typhoon FGR4 and MQ-9 Reaper aircraft respectively. In both these roles he was responsible for the management of all the non-engineering operational support outputs for each squadron. During the last 2.5 years on XIII Sqn, he was the only UK based MQ-9 squadron operations officer, bringing industry leading experience in the practical application of operations support, to unmanned aircraft systems within the MALE class.

Jessica Baddams
Training ManagerJess joined EEI in late 2020. She comes from a varied background in administration, business development and marketing, having accumulated years of experience in military facing roles and government organisations. Her business experience as well as personal links to the military, make a great fit for our growing award-winning team.
Her main roles are; the day to day running of RUSTA operations and growing our marketing strategy. She is also fluent in Spanish and looks forward to working with our international customers.
Jess is looking forward to helping you find out how we can provide your organisation, with the best expertise in the UAS sector to help you succeed today and in the future.

Kate Dodd FCA
Financial ManagerKate has been working in Accounts for 18 years. Having worked in a large Accountancy Practice for many years and gaining her Chartered Accountancy qualifications in 2005, Kate decided to become freelance at the beginning of 2019 and now works with many local SMEs.
At Eagle Eye Innovations Kate is responsible for all the day to day accounts functions and advising on general finance matters

Dave Blackburn
Chief Pilot InstructorJoining the company in 2020 Dave brings 19 years of military aviation experience to the team on both manned and unmanned platforms, with over 2000 operational hours on the MQ-9 Reaper. In addition, he is a QFI whose final tour in the RAF was as the Standards and Evaluation Pilot for the UK MQ-9 Force, he also continues to fly for the RAF reserves in his capacity as a QFI. Dave is passionate about all aspects of aviation and instruction and is also an instructor and examiner on SUAS. In his spare time Dave enjoys riding and racing Off Road Motorcycles.

Kevin Taylor
Head Of Academy - RUSTAKevin joined RUSTA back in November 2018. Coming from a Policing and aviation background, Kev brings extensive experience and flying skills to the team. Kev is a senior instructor at RUSTA.

Mike Horton
Non-Executive DirectorMike spent 18 years as a pilot in the Royal Air Force where he flew Vulcan bombers and commanded a flying training squadron. He joined British Aerospace as a Business Director in 1991 and moved to GKN Defence in 1993. Following the acquisition of GKN Defence by Alvis Vehicles in 1998, Mike, as Product Support Director re-organised the Product Support Department to meet the demands of the MOD and a wider overseas customer base. He left Alvis to join Serco Defence in November 2000 as a Project Director and moved to Oman in 2004, as Managing Director of Serco-Muscat Ltd, having won the contract to design and build a Technical College for the Oman MOD.

Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper KBE RAF
Chairman – Non-Executive DirectorAir Marshal Sir Chris Harper retired from the RAF, after over 40 years service, in 2017. Having been a single-seat fast jet pilot, and commanded at all levels, his last full-time appointment saw him as Director General of the NATO International Military Staff at HQ NATO in Brussels. Sir Chris now runs CH4C Global Ltd, which provides bespoke consultancy services to organisations working in international defence and security, aviation, aerospace and technology. Sir Chris has provided consultancy and advice to Eagle Eye Innovations since 2018 and accepted an invitation to become the non-executive chairman of the company’s board of directors in April 2020. In addition to his business activities, Sir Chris serves on the Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society, as a Trustee of the Air League, and as the Honorary Air Commodore of No 2620 (County of Norfolk) Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Sir Chris also continues to fly; he owns and operates a Vans RV8 and is a member of the Royal Air Squadron.

Alex Kasperczyk BA (Hons)
Director of Business DevelopmentAlex brings over 7yrs MQ-9 Reaper operating and instructional experience, amassing in excess of 2000hrs. As one of only three MQ-9 Qualified Weapons Instructors available in Industry, Alex brings in-depth expertise in the planning and delivery of UAS operations, spanning the tactical and strategic domains. In addition, he spent time in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test and Evaluation Squadron (UAS TES) working closely with Industry partners to deliver UAS trials on behalf of the MoD. Alex is passionate about the future of Unmanned Aviation and working with those who aspire to drive this exciting sector forward

Dom Smith BSC (Hons)
Director of OperationsDom joined EEI as the new Chief Operations Officer, bringing experience gained from his 2000 operational hours on MQ-9 Reaper. As one of only two MQ-9 Qualified Weapons Instructors available in industry he brings in-depth expertise in BVLOS UAS operations specialising in planning, executing and leading within the tactical, operational and strategic domains. With a proven instructional pedigree, he welcomes the challenge of building upon the impressive foundations already laid within EEI and RUSTA.

Sion Roberts BA (Hons)
Managing Director/FounderSion founded EEI in 2014 after 22 years’ service in the Royal Air Force. Sion started in flying career as a Weapons Systems Operator on the venerable Nimrod MR2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft before moving to the USA to operate the MQ9 Reaper. After 3 years serving on 39 Squadron RAF and 3 years as an instructor with the USAF in New Mexico Sion transited back to the UK and formed EEI. In addition Sion is an accomplished SUAS Pilot and Instructor and was RUSTA Head of Academy upon it’s formation in 2015.