Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, is holding the first civilian Unmanned Aircraft training class in the region beginning July 19 at its main campus and Tech Town in downtown. The college is hoping to prepare the area’s workforce for forthcoming jobs as a result of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s involvement with the evolving technology.
“I think as we look at the UAS industry, projections are within the next few years it’s going to be a multi-billion [dollar industry]. You know, you hear everything from 12 to 20 billion,” said Deborah Norris, Vice President of Workforce Development and Corporate Services at Sinclair Community College. “We know that it’s going to be an incredibly large market.”
Norris sees the new class, which she believes is the first of its kind in the state, as a tool for the general public and local businesses to become more knowledgeable and adaptable to the future of the emerging industry. The promise the technology has and its potential to rebound a portion of the economy are tremendous in the region, Norris said. It’s a region, she said, that has a perfect recipe for success with UAS technology.
The new course, UAS 101, has been in development for the past four to six months. The three-day class will look at five areas of operation: UAS ground training, global information systems, systems integration, materials for UAS and aerospace applications and sensors, simulations and demonstrations.
Class size is limited to 25 people and costs each individual $950 for all of the training involved. The training is a unique experience, combining the resources of Sinclair’s UAS Training and Certification Center with several of its UAS training partners.
University of Dayton’s Institute for the Development and Commercialization of Advanced Sensor Technology (IDCAST), one of the nation’s most prominent advanced sensor related research and development centers, the Center for UAV Exploitation, Woolpert, a national leader in geospatial data collection and analysis and Co-Operative Engineering Services Inc., a local UAV manufacturer and services provider, all have made significant contributions to the development of the new course. Some of the organizations also are teaching a portion of the class.
UAS technology has been growing in the Dayton region since the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson became a central location for UAS development and research. Experts in the field said, while the industry remains heavily devoted to the military functions of UAS with the connection to Wright-Patterson, the future is beginning to take shape in the commercial industry.
“This is an area that is still very new to many different people,” said Donald Smith, President and CTO of Co-Operative Engineering Services Inc., a Xenia-based company specializing in UAS. “Without the help of the industry partners, it wouldn’t have come together so quickly. The real growth potential is in the civilian market,” Smith said. “There are a number of different tasks that UAVs can do than the current way things do them.”
Source: Dayton Daily News