Drone STEM curriculum released for high schools and colleges

The Unmanned Safety Institute, a provider of career and technical education (CTE) curriculum and industry certifications to students interested in being professional remote pilots, has launched a workforce development initiative in conjunction with high schools and colleges throughout the United States.

The program provides teacher credentialing and all course materials, including a 400-page academic textbook, to secondary educational institutions throughout the United States.

Students who successfully complete the program are eligible to take USI’s credentialing exam, leading to the Small UAS Safety Certification, which demonstrates expertise as a professional Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) pilot.

In August 2016, the FAA released 14 CFR Part 107 governing the use of UAS for commercial purposes. Since then, businesses around the United States have discovered the benefits of using drones, USI officials noted.

The rapid proliferation of commercial drones has created tremendous demand for hundreds of thousands of new jobs, they said, adding the FAA estimates there could be as many as 2.3 million licensed drone pilots by 2020.

USI has a network of nearly 100 USI Certified Instructors throughout the United States who have already educated thousands of students to its Small UAS Safety Certification.

The curriculum comprises four college-equivalent courses totaling over 150 hours of instruction and addresses key topics such as:

• Robotics
• Data Links
• UAS Command and Control
• Payloads
• Meteorology & the Elements
• Small UAS Applications
• Rules & Regulations
• Airspace Operations
• Human Factors
• Aeronautical Decision-making
• Safety Management Systems
• Safety Risk Management

Now in its third year, USI’s education program has found success in the state of Florida, having grown to 95 high schools educating over 2,500 students. The program is raidly expanding to new schools throughout the United States and in place in several countries throughout the world, officials said.