(1864) TAKING FLIGHT: MEETING THE ANTICIPATED WORKFORCE DEMANDS FOR DRONE AND UAV PROFESSIONALS WITH TECHNICAL EDUCATION

摘要

In 2015, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will be combining manned airspace and unmannedairspace. This action opens the door for the commercialization of drones, adding as many as 30,000commercial drones to the United States airspace alone. Given the well-documented struggles theUnited States has experienced recently in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, andMathematics) education, the ability to have a workforce ready to supply skilled labor to this rapidlyevolving field is presenting a substantive challenge for those venturing into it. Creating innovativerelationships between industry partners who are both supplying and consuming drone services andtechnical schools which are much more focused on creating employable graduates than traditionalfour-year schools and thus much more flexible by nature. By integrating industry partners both asSMEs (subject matter experts) for new curriculums and as facilitators of career-oriented experiences,technical schools can offer students educational experiences mirroring authentic on-the-jobexperiences in a flexible manner previously unavailable.