More than two years ago, New Jersey Institute of Technology Professor Michael Chumer was testing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) that were deployed in California yet able to send video to his emergency management network at NJIT.
The video clearly showed that the UAS could be used to enhance both emergency response and public safety in the State of New Jersey. The question then arose: How does NJIT bring this untapped potential to New Jersey?
The answer, surmised Chumer, was to apply for permission to use the UAS in New Jersey from the FAA, which has a Certificate of Waiver/Authorization (COA) process. He started the process nine months ago and on May 8 the FAA awarded the university a COA, making it the first New Jersey university and first public institution in the state granted permission to test UAS.
NJIT will use the airstrip on the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May to test the systems.
“This (COA) process was a learning experience for me and NJIT,” said Chumer, director of the Crisis Communication Center and of UAS Applied Research at NJIT. “As we proceeded through the application, we learned a lot about what data is required to safely integrate UAS technology within the National Airspace.”
NJIT will work closely with the State of New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, as well as the State Office of Emergency Management, to develop UAS capabilities. It will also aim to weave that capability into the state’s emergency response operations.
NJIT is a partner in the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), housed at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which last year was designated one of six test sites authorized to develop procedures to ensure the safe integration of the UAS into the National Airspace.
The university plans to begin testing under its COA in the summer of 2014 and be prepared to assist New Jersey in bringing UAS emergency management capabilities to bear during the hurricane season. In addition, as part of the Test Site MAAP team, NJIT plans to collect operational data required by the FAA on the specific UAS that will be flown in Cape May.
NJIT, New Jersey’s science and technology university, enrolls 10,000 students pursuing bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in 120 programs. The university consists of six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, College of Computing Sciences and Albert Dorman Honors College.
I predict… UAV’s will one day mean an end to private, personal aviation.
As the use of drones grows there will eventually be incidents between them and private aircraft. You can bet your last dollar that the media will report this as being a serious risk to the safety of everyone, everywhere. Prompting a frightened population into demanding something be done. And as the general public will, by then, see UAV’s as essential to their security and/or quality of life, guess who’s side they’ll be on? Us private pilots, or the UAV operators? And since there are way more of them, then there are of us, guess who’s side most politicians will take?
Remember, flight is a privelage, not a birth-right. And it’s a privelage that can be revoked, by an act of Congress, at anytime.