As a longtime technology development manager for defense contractor BAE Systems and later as a senior program manager with RTI Remmele Engineering, Mark McNitt gained deep experience in R&D. Now as the founder of his own company, Stratetek, he’s generating recognition for a new product—a lightweight diesel aircraft engine aimed at the quickly growing market for unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones. McNitt’s patented creation came away as the winner of the Carlson School of Management’s 2015 Minnesota Cup in the energy/clean tech/water category.