For individuals interested in pursuing a career in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), there will soon be tens of thousands of jobs available to them to choose from. In the United States, commercial UAS operations fall under Federal Aviation Regulation, part 107. This regulation has opened the doors for commercial UAS operations all over the country. Our programs prepare students to understand the complex operational and program management techniques and skill sets needed to be successful in this ever-evolving industry. Our programs prepare students to work with commercial UAS in a wide variety of fields, including but not limited to: Agriculture, Film and Television, First Responders, Telecom, Energy, Utilities, Critical Infrastructure, Real Estate, Construction, Cinematography, and many more. The commercial UAs industry truly does have an impact on a wide variety of other industries. Our certificate programs prepare students to meet the exciting challenges that lie ahead for those looking to break into the commercial UAS industry.

UVU provides degrees and training for over 300 commercial UAV applications
UVU unmanned aircraft systems job potential

An example of some of the exciting work opportunities in this field are listed below:

Precision Farming

80% of UAV applications will be for farming. Infrared sensors can discover fertile and non-fertile areas on a farm. This will allow farmers to apply fertilizer only where it is needed, instead of the entire farm. Hyperspectral sensors have shrunk to 1-2 pounds and can be employed on a UAV to discover disease in crops.

John Deere is building autonomous tractors and researchers at Virginia Tech are using UAVs to collect samples to track microbes that cause disease in plants. It may be possible to use this information to spray fungicide before the microbes arrive. Japan is using UAVs for crop dusting of rice fields and using precision ground robots to harvest $5 strawberries.

Customs and Border Patrol

US Customs currently has 9 Predator UAVs that are equipped with sophisticated night vision and infrared surveillance equipment. These drones are capable of cruising continuously for 30 hours and can identify vehicles and people from an altitude of 50,000 feet while their operators control them from a base thousands of miles away.

Missions include border patrols, surveys and control, counter narcotics and illegal alien surveillance; counter-terrorist nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) detection of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Firefighting

Using a UAV for firefighting does not just save money. It eliminates the risk to pilots. UAVs can go to any scene, anywhere, launch, and be able to share that imagery immediately with the battalion chief on the ground, an Incident Commander on the ground, or an Emergency Operations Center anywhere. The UAV can be programmed with GPS coordinates to fly a pattern automatically.

Law Enforcement

There are already ten police agencies using UAVs in law enforcement. A commercial market exists for supplying and training customers that will come from the over 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the USA.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (disaster area surveys and assessment, facilitate relief operations, communications relay).

Coast Guard (surveillance for counter narcotics, illegal aliens, illegal fishing, national security threats, search and rescue operations).

Department of Agriculture (pesticide & fertilizer spraying, insect sampling (bug catching), farm management).

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (high altitude atmospheric sampling, such as for ozone and pollution, astronomical sensing).

Forest Service (area surveillance of forest to determine plant growth and provide fire control, counter narcotics surveillance, mapping, firefighting with water or chemicals).

Weather Service (storm observation, tornado chaser).

Fish and Wildlife (river and estuary surveys for illegal hazardous waste dumps, wildlife tracking and accounting in remote areas, mapping, counter poaching, fishing law enforcement).

Department of Energy (monitoring nuclear facilities, reconnaissance for hazardous waste cleanup, atmospheric and climatic research).

Bureau of Land Management (archeological surveys and monitoring, hazardous waste dump surveys and monitoring).

State and Local Law Enforcement (riot control, area surveillance, highway patrol, counter narcotics surveillance, search and rescue).

State Department (area security surveillance).

Drug Enforcement Agency (counter narcotics surveillance).

Environmental Protection Agency (air sampling, hazardous waste dump surveys and monitoring).

Department of Transportation (traffic and highway surveys and monitoring, crash mitigation, mapping).

Engineers [civil missions] (monitoring recreational areas, surveying for dams, levees, and other construction projects, disaster control).

Communication Relay (equivalent to low-altitude satellites or cell towers).

Security (surveillance, counter-terrorism, detection of NBC & WMD).

Media (overhead cameras for news and special events).

Real Estate (pictures for selling property, surveying).

Surveying (city and suburban planning).

Farming and Ranching (check on cattle, fence lines, and work crews, spraying crops with pesticide and fertilizer, monitoring crops, soil, moisture, and pest conditions, and insect sampling).

Maritime (monitoring and reconnaissance of fishing areas, shipping hazards and disasters, and search and rescue).

Film Industry (aerial photography and special effects).

Archaeology (aerial observation of sites and digs).

Oil and Mineral Industry (gas and oil pipeline monitoring in desolate areas, search for mineral and fossil fuel deposits).

Railroads (aerial monitoring of rail lines and trains for operations and accidents).

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