�鶹��

On December 3, Richard Bland College of William & Mary (RBC), in partnership with the Virginia SpaceGrant Consortium (VSGC) and Virginia Tech, hosted a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) demonstration in the Pecan Groves located on the RBC campus in Petersburg Virginia.

The event featured demonstrations of a variety of sUAS including fixed-wing and multi-rotor vehicles and gave attendees the opportunity to observe flight operations and data capture. Faculty and other members of the GeoTEd-UAS project team led the event.

“Richard Bland College of William & Mary was thrilled to host the Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems demonstration in the Pecan Groves,” says Tyler Hart, Chief Administrative Officer.

The focus of the demonstration was to Inform the Richard Bland College community and stakeholders of the many applications and uses of sUAS, market the proposed aviation and sUAS courses and pathways including a FAA Part 107 online course to be offered by Richard Bland College in 2021.

“The collaborative partnerships with the �鶹��, Virginia Tech, and experts in sUAS will enable RBC to build out a certificate program, providing students new opportunities to pursue careers in this exciting and rapidly growing field,” said Hart.

Chris Carter, deputy director of the �鶹�� and PI on the GeoTEd-UAS project was part of the leadership team for the event.

“It was a great event and the audience seemed engaged and interested in learning more about UAS,” said Carter. “The highlight of the event was watching two different autonomous missions successfully capture data and land safely. Our GeoTEd-UAS team includes a strong and experienced group of faculty
leaders and UAS subject matter experts.”

Although COVID-19 has impacted the ability to host in-person events, the collaborative efforts of RBC, VSGC, and Virginia Tech made this event possible and has opened the doors for more events like this in the future.

“It was great to partner with RBC to offer a safe event that followed all COVID-19 safety protocols,” said Carter. “We look forward to doing more of these demo events in partnership with education institutions across Virginia.”

For more information about sUAS and future events visit the GeoTEd-UAS website here.