Mr. Michael Toscano
Michael Toscano is the President and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International (AUVSI). In this role, Mr. Toscano oversees all aspects of the more than 7,500
member organization as well as represents the unmanned systems industry before Congress,
the media and other stakeholders.
He has appeared on national news broadcasts such as the PBS Newshour and has been widely
quoted in U.S. and international media including the Boston Globe, USA Today, The Washington
Post, the Associated Press and CNN. Mr. Toscano has also been called to testify before the U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee on issues related to unmanned systems.
Prior to joining AUVSI, Mr. Toscano was the Program Manager for Research and Development
for Nuclear Security in the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear
Matters. He was responsible for leading a physical security equipment RDT&E program that
supported the protection of tactical, fixed and nuclear weapons systems, DOD personnel and
DOD facilities.
He was also the Chairman of the Physical Security Equipment Action Group (PSEAG), overseeing
the execution of the joint Department of Defense (DoD) Physical Security Equipment Research,
Development, Test and Evaluation (PSE RDT&E) program. His responsibilities included
programmatic and technical reviews of selected conventional and nuclear DoD developmental
and procurement programs in physical security, antiterrorism, and force protection. He was also
the DoD centralized coordinator of research, development, and test and evaluation of the PSE
program.
Mr. Toscano has served as the Executive Secretariat to the 2002 Defense Science Board on
Combating Terrorism, Advisory Member to the 2003 Army Science Broad on Force Protection
and Manpower Reduction, and Advisory Member to the 2002 Naval Research Advisory
Committee study on the Roles of Unmanned Vehicles.
Mr. Toscano holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both Civil and Environmental Engineering from
the University of Rhode Island.