USU Eastern Press Release
It took drones about a decade to move from the techie gadget stage to a career opportunity. Utah State University Eastern in Price now offers a one-year certificate program that trains students to work with drones.
According to Shalyn Drake, lecturer at USU Eastern, the two-semester certificate program prepares students to build, repair, fly and program drones—a.k.a. unmanned aerial vehicles— as well as pass the required Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensing tests. USU is currently the only FAA-certified Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative institution in Utah.
Drake said that most students in the program are looking to combine drone operation with other careers such as law enforcement, real estate, firefighting or technology repair. No graduates have plans in agriculture yet, but precision agriculture is another emerging market for drone pilots. Some also take the courses as part of other degree programs in Aviation Technology at USU. About the only thing the program doesn’t teach is how to fly first-person-view racing drones.
“We’ve already had some graduates land jobs,” she said. “One for a company that inspects natural gas lines and a couple work as safety officers for Amazon. There will be many more delivery openings in the near future.”
Drake said companies that do deliveries by Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) fixed-wing drones are likely going to become the biggest employers. These drones are much bigger and more complex than the $1,000 quadcopters many people fly now, Drake explained. Category 4, or “Cat 4” drones, for example, can fly 20 miles and up to three hours at a time.
Drake said a company called Zipline makes medical deliveries for Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. These drones can deliver medical supplies and donor organs more quickly and efficiently than helicopter or cars. They also plan to expand into doing home deliveries. Amazon is setting up drone delivery and pick-up hubs similar to the drop box centers they have now.
Drake taught English for 14 years before taking over USU Eastern’s drone program.She became familiar with drones through flying remote control planes.
“I met my husband Ken through a remote control flying club in 2005,” she said. “The early RC planes were primitive compared to modern drones guided by GPS (Global Positioning Satellites).”
“Flying is the fun part, but we try to impress on our students that it is only about 20 percent of the job,” Drake continued. “You need to be proficient in record keeping, communications and safety, especially with the larger delivery drones that may navigate crowded airspace.”
Currently, there are 12 students enrolled, nine men and three women. To find out more about the program, contact Shawn Barstow shawn.barstow@usu.edu or Shalyn Drake shalyn.drake@usu.edu