How cool would that be, to get a degree in UAV piloting? Although I do think that a four year degree is a little excessive for the task. I do think UAV’s will become easier to fly and will be more intelligent as time goes by. I could see maybe a two year degree or something like that, just to give some kind of a foundation for this stuff.
What is interesting about the future of our industry, is that UAVs will become more common on jobs, and knowing how to use them, will definitely give you a leg up for that contract. It is much like how many guys end up operating CCTV or XRay Machines on gigs, along with all the other duties of security operations. There might even come a day where this skill will be a requirement of a company, along with managing other robotics and fancy devices. I am sure security specialist felt the same way about GPS or high tech radios some thirty or forty years ago, when they were told that they might have to use that stuff on a job. All I know is keep playing those video games guys and gals. lol –Matt
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A first: UND offers degree program in UAV piloting
5 January 2010
The number of unmanned aircraft systems has jumped from a fleet of about 50 vehicles nine years ago to more than 2,400 in use today; these UAVs need trained operators to operate them, and the University of North Dakota offers the first-in-the-U.S. degree program in UAV piloting.
The UAV market is exhibiting all the characteristics of a maturing market. There are four steps to this maturation process: first, innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs dominate the sector; in the second phase, the big guys move in, buying up smaller companies; in the third phase there is litigation over intellectual property infringement; in the fourth phase, colleges and universities begin to offer degrees in the field.
In evidence: The University of North Dakota is offering the world’s first bachelor’s degree for pilots who will never leave the ground. Discovery news’s Irene klotz reports that these pilots are not afraid of flying. There is just less of a need to be airborne with the rapid growth of so-called unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. “College students like to be employable when they graduate,” said Jeffrey Kappenman, director of the school’s Unmanned Aircraft Center. “This market is a growing market.”