Ohio Community College Awards First-ever Drone Bachelor’s Degree

As the hometown of the Wright Brothers, Dayton, Ohio sports a rich tradition in aviation history. So, it’s no surprise the Gem City is making history again in unmanned aviation.

Last week, Sinclair Community College awarded its first-ever bachelor’s degrees in Unmanned Aerial Systems.

Samuel Bryan and Preston Moore hope to leverage their degrees to pursue careers in drone-related industry.

“Sinclair’s UAS bachelor’s degree program is very hands-on so instead of just studying and trying to find it out for yourself, you are in the lab working on designing, 3-D printing, building, manufacturing, and fixing broken vehicles. Just a plethora of hands-on learning to better prepare you for a career in Unmanned Aerial Systems,” Moore said.

Moore’s love of video games initially drew him to the program. He says he will use the degree to showcase properties as a Realtor.

“What I love most about Sinclair’s UAS program is just how hands-on everything is and how they encourage us to be creative with our ideas,” Bryan said.

“The instructors want to discuss ideas with us so that they can help us turn a dream into reality. We expand on stuff that may sound really crazy, but anything’s possible. I really love how they encourage creativity in this program.”

Moore agrees: “The professors here care and want you to expand your knowledge outside of class. They encourage you to keep researching, keep learning more, and keep developing new methods. Sinclair has really helped me achieve my goals as I pursue a career in the UAS industry.”

Sinclair has been a major player in drone education over the past few years. In 2019, the college’s National UAS Training and Certification Center partnered with North Carolina-based Elizabeth City State University to improve drone research and training. The program focuses on UAV training programs with classroom and online instruction, drone simulation programs and live practice.

To kick off the program, the two colleges demonstrated a joint exercise connecting each campus via high-fidelity Simlat UAS training software and the Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) capabilities program. Lived manned and drone flights also take place in Ohio alongside virtual UAV ops conducted at both Sinclair and ECSU.