Kansas State University’s Polytechnic has taken to the rarified skies of emerging drone tech and shows no sign of landing.
The university is flying beyond the borders of Kansas, offering a recently announced Part 107 preparation course April 27-29 in the Denver area.
According to KSU officials, the course is set up to “prepare professionals for the Federal Aviation Administration’s written exam, which is required for anyone wanting to operate a commercial small unmanned aircraft who does not already hold a manned pilot certificate.”
The course will focus on topics covered in the FAA written exam. It includes FAA rules and regulations as applied to drones including UAV set-up and safety issues.
“This marks the fourth time we’ve taken our course off campus,” said Kurt Carraway, KSU Polytechnic’s UAS executive director of the Applied Aviation Research Center. “We offered a course last year in Dallas following XPONENTIAL and we just offered one in February when we went to Olathe, Kansas, to train its police department. We look forward to making new connections with our neighbors in Colorado.”
According to Carraway, all past students who responded to a survey “reported they are extremely confident in their ability to adhere to FAA regulations around small UAS. Survey respondents also noted the course is a convenient way to network with other professionals using UAS technology, providing the ability for future collaborations.”
Drone innovation has blossomed across Kansas over the past several years. State officials hosted a UAS Summit at the National Center for Aviation Training Wichita in 2015. The event allowed lawmakers, researchers and drone firms to connect and included exhibitor displays, training sessions and mission demos.
In 2016, Kansas utility Westar Energy announced the launch of a drone program to inspect rural power lines for breakage and damage. In 2013, the company collaborated with Kansas State University-Salina to establish a drone research program. Two years later, the partnership created the UAS pavilion, one of the largest enclosed drone flight facilities in the U.S. – 300-feet-long by 200-feet-wide and 50-feet-tall.
Those who are interested in the KSU 107 course can learning more at ksu-uas.com/denver-suas-commercial-pilot-training/.
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[…] week, KSU announced a new drone-training Part 107 course in Denver. More recently, the campus’s Applied Aviation Research Center inked an agreement with […]