The Federal Aviation Administration selected Mohawk Valley Community College for its Unmanned Aircraft Systems-Collegiate Training Initiative, the school announced Wednesday in a statement.
The college said the selection was made in April.
The collaboration will help MVCC deliver up-to-date training to match the requirements of the National Airspace System to students in the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) degree program, preparing them to be qualified candidates for lucrative careers in the field, the college said.
“We are only one a of a few colleges in the country that provides a comprehensive program in advanced RPAS technology, through which students acquire skills to design, build, test, fly, and apply remotely piloted aircraft,” said MVCC Professor Bill Judycki in a statement. “We are the only college in the country that trains students to fly both a sophisticated multirotor and fixed wing aircraft capable precision centimeter accuracy in photogrammetry and LIDAR, as well as flight training on a $250,000 flight simulator.”
To qualify for the initiative, which is for three years, colleges must offer a bachelor’s or associate degree in UAS or a degree with a minor, concentration, or certificate in UAS, according to the statement. Schools must provide curriculum covering various aspects of UAS training, including hands-on flight practice, maintenance, uses, applications, privacy concerns, safety, and federal policies concerning UAS.
MVCC’s RPAS program prepares students for emerging jobs in agriculture, inspection, and emergency services in the United States using the latest mapping and photogrammetry software (PIX4D) and remote sensing packages such as thermal, multispectral, and LiDar 3D.
Students also use MVCC’s FABLab to explore modeling and fabrication of designs created using AutoCAD and learn about Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and remote sensing capabilities used in RPAS operations.
A National Science Foundation (NSF) award is funding the work of MVCC, industry partners, and commercial end-users of RPAS to align specific job competencies for one-semester microcredentials. Additionally, the NSF award funded the purchase of a Microdrone mdLiDAR1000 and sensors that enable agriculture and infrastructure inspection, plus a supercomputer for flight data processing.
The school is a member of the NUAIR Alliance, a coalition of 200 entities working together to operate and oversee RPAS testing in three states.
Ed Harris is the Oneida County reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Ed Harris at EHarris1@gannett.com.