Archive for 2025
May 27, 2025
PKL has concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Japanese company, Blue Innovation Co., Ltd. (Blue Innovation). Blue Innovation is a system platform provider that supports building of infrastructure and developing modern drone and robotics solutions.
The purpose of the MOU is to foster mutual intent for developing and providing drone training simulators that incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge mixed reality technologies.
This collaboration is highly complementary and mutually beneficial, aligning PKL’s proven OMNISPEC® Training System, with Blue Innovation’s vast experience and know-how gained via many years of offering drone training with JUIDA (Japan UAS Industrial Development Association).
The signing of the MOU comes after the companies collaborated at a recent 3-day forum in Tokyo, where we demonstrated our Drone Mission Trainers; Training Simulation for Quadcopter with First Person Perspective (FPV); Maintenance Training Courseware using CBT, AR, and VR; Assistive Live Display Tools; and AI embedded in training software.
Drone technology is evolving rapidly, and its applications are expanding in emergency situations such as natural disasters, aging public infrastructure, and security issues. However, as the number of situations in which drones are used increases, the need for specialized pilots and maintenance technicians, who have mastered drone techniques for each unique situation, is also increasing, and the urgent issue is to create appropriately customized training environments for these diverse mission applications.
Our MOU therefore aims to jointly develop and provide drone training simulators that will reproduce various usage scenarios, using drone x AI technology, which will accelerate our efforts towards the following four goals.
- Provide specialized training programs for different applications, such as drone use in inspection work and disaster or emergency response.
- Develop simulation training that reproduces real-world situations. By integrating AI, we will create a virtual environment to realistically reproduce actual work scenes so pilots and maintainers can learn in a simulator before entering the field to respond to high-risk missions.
- Construct safe and efficient training environments by using simulation technology, allowing pilots and maintenance crews to acquire advanced skills in a safe but realistic environment.
- Create synthetic environments for training and validation of AI models. We will simulate drone operations, with layers of software and algorithms, allowing trainees to process information, plan actions, and control movements, resulting in valuable performance data.
By delivering customized training technologies, our strategic collaboration will improve the technology and capacity of the drone industry. Additionally, our vision for cutting-edge training will increase the production of drone pilots and maintenance technicians who will now possess advanced, mission-specific skillsets, thus strengthening the market competitiveness of PKL and Blue Innovation.
For more on Blue Innovation and our partnership, please visit their website and their recent press release.
April 11, 2025
PKL has received the Recognized Employer Award in the 2025 VETS Indexes Employer Awards program, through our organization’s strong commitment to recruiting, hiring, retaining, developing, and supporting veterans and the military-connected community.
The full list of all awardees is available here: https://vetsindexes.com/award-results-2025
In sharing our award, George Altman, President of VETS Indexes, said, “Even as more organizations than ever before are recognizing the uniquely valuable skills that veterans bring as employees, the efforts of PKL Services, Inc. to recruit, retain, develop, and support those who served, as well as their families, stand out from the pack. Congratulations to PKL Services, Inc. for its remarkable progress creating a workplace that welcomes veterans and empowers them to advance their careers.”
This award is based on lengthy survey input related to all aspects of organizational alignment, support, and development for veterans in the workplace and analyzed for commitment and performance based on hiring data, retention statistics, management, veteran support, and more.
This year, a record total of 349 organizations completed and submitted surveys for the VETS Indexes Employer Awards, more than ever before! Of those participants, VETS Indexes recognized 294 organizations across the following award levels: 5 Star Employer, 4 Star Employer, 3 Star Employer, and Recognized Employer. Not every responding organization made the cut – only those that demonstrated a strong commitment to veterans, members of the National Guard and Reserves, and military spouses. Participating organizations included companies large and small, government agencies and departments, nonprofit groups, colleges, and universities.
VETS Indexes is a leading voice on veteran employment issues, overseeing the VETS Indexes Employer Awards, hosting the Employing U.S. Vets Conference, unearthing unique and unprecedented data on veteran employment through the Veteran Employment Benchmarking Service, and developing custom indexes, linked to financial products, that track the performance of the publicly traded companies that have established themselves as the best employers for veterans.
We are honored to receive this recognition again this year.
January 8, 2025
We are delighted to announce that PKL has been honored with an award for Best Company Culture, placing us in the top 20% of all small to mid-sized companies nationally!
This recognition is based on the invaluable feedback from our dedicated employees, who embody and nurture the collaborative culture that makes our workplace truly exceptional. A heartfelt thank you to each and every team member for championing our values and fostering an environment filled with positivity and collaboration.
You can view the whole list of Top companies with the best company culture here: https://www.comparably.com/awards/winners/best-company-culture-2024-small
This award was based solely on the independent and anonymous feedback of many employees throughout PKL. Awarded by Comparably, survey results were compiled on Comparably.com during a 12-month period and compared with hundreds of other companies.
Comparably is a leading workplace culture and corporate brand reputation platform with over 15 million anonymous employee ratings on 70,000 companies. With the most comprehensive data on large, medium, and small business organizations in nearly 20 different workplace categories – based on gender, ethnicity, age, experience, industry, location, education – it is one of the most used SaaS platforms for employer branding and a trusted third-party site for workplace culture and compensation.
Here’s to celebrating this amazing achievement and continuing to make PKL a workplace where happiness and success thrive!
