# Steve Zeets

> Steve Zeets is an Iowa-licensed land surveyor, founder and CEO of Whirrx, and Processing & QA/QC Lead at SkyFleet Solutions. After beginning as a rodman on a three-person survey crew, he built a career across surveying, GIS, IT and photogrammetry, adopted drones for survey work in 2011, co-founded Terraplane in 2014, secured FAA Exemption No. 11228 in 2015, and later started Whirrx to pair standardized drone systems with processing, training and survey-ready deliverables.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Whirrx; Processing & QA/QC Lead at SkyFleet Solutions
- **Organizations:** Whirrx, SkyFleet Solutions, S3 Land Surveying, Terraplane, LLC, Foth Infrastructure & Environment
- **Education:** Hawkeye Community College
- **Known for:** Received Iowa Professional Licensed Surveyor credential No. 18377 in 2007., Received FAA Exemption No. 11228 in March 2015 for UAS aerial data collection., Co-founded Terraplane in 2014 and founded Whirrx, established in 2018.

## Career timeline

- **After college** — Began his surveying career as a rodman on a three-person survey crew.
- **2007** — Received an Iowa Professional Licensed Surveyor credential.
- **2011** — Started using drones in surveying after work spanning surveying, GIS, IT and photogrammetry.
- **2014** — Co-founded Terraplane, a Cedar Rapids aerial-data company focused on UAS, surveying, GIS and photogrammetry.
- **2015** — Discovered and saved a briefly posted FAA economic analysis of proposed small-drone rules; the FAA later granted him Exemption No. 11228 for aerial data collection.
- **2016** — Earned FAA recreational-pilot and remote-pilot credentials and publicly shared GNSS/UAS accuracy experiments.
- **2018** — Whirrx was founded in Cedar Rapids to provide standardized drone systems, processing and training for surveyors.
- **2019** — Presented 'How to Ensure Accuracy in Your Drone Survey' at the Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors annual meeting.
- **2020** — Led surveyor training sessions covering accurate drone surveying, airspace, regulation, insurance and company integration.
- **2021** — Presented with Michael Frecks on UAV acquisition for the Buck O'Neil Bridge project.
- **Current** — Listed as Licensed Land Surveyor and Processing & QA/QC Lead at SkyFleet Solutions while remaining associated with Whirrx.

## Achievements

- Received Iowa Professional Licensed Surveyor credential No. 18377 in 2007.
- Received FAA Exemption No. 11228 in March 2015 for UAS aerial data collection.
- Co-founded Terraplane in 2014 and founded Whirrx, established in 2018.
- Discovered and preserved a briefly published FAA economic analysis ahead of the 2015 proposed commercial-drone rules.
- Taught professional surveyors about drone accuracy, regulation, insurance, airspace and business integration.
- Presented a UAV acquisition case study connected with the Buck O'Neil Bridge project in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — SkyFleet reported collecting 190 acres in hours, processing with Whirrx and delivering a LandXML surface within 48 hours.
- **2021-12** — Zeets presented with Michael Frecks on UAV acquisition for the Buck O'Neil Bridge realignment project.
- **2020-01** — Zeets led Drones A-Z professional training sessions on survey accuracy, regulation, insurance, airspace and company integration.

## Links

- Website: https://whirrx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-zeets-a8229041
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/cczeets
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whirrx

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/steve-zeets
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-25