Collaborative Research: Unmanned Aerial Systems and Specialized Workforce Development to Support Oklahoman Agriculture and Industry

Rose State College, Oklahoma City OK

Investigators

Abstract

Several Oklahoma industries, involved in agriculture, energy generation, as well as oil and natural gas processing/distribution, have recently started employing unmanned aerial systems (UAS or more commonly "drones") to improve the quality of services and reduce operational costs. This project will create a new experiential-learning educational program at the Rose State College (RSC) to train students, who will become the future workforce in the design, maintenance, and use of UAS across a wide range of civilian and military applications. Training this specialized workforce to meet the industry needs presents unique challenges, which cannot be addressed by merely considering UAS as smaller aircraft. One of the points of strength of this UAS program is that it will provide RSC students with a solid background that will allow them to meet the rapidly changing needs of drone technologies. Working in close collaboration with the University of Oklahoma (OU), RSC will establish a pipeline of students from high school to local industries in order to better prepare its graduates for future college experiences. RSC is located in Midwest City, Central Oklahoma, with an under-represented and minority (URM) population exceeding 37%. This ATE project will enhance development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce. The UAS curriculum will be supported by an evidence-based approach in the use of an elaborate evaluation plan that will help to refine and infuse meaningful activities into a technical curriculum. More specifically, this UAS education program for technicians and engineers will provide technical background in the fundamentals of programming, aerodynamics, flight dynamics and control, UAS operations, payloads and applications, materials and manufacturing, as well as UAS regulations. Core math and physics classes will be accompanied by an experiential-learning approach to provide students with extensive hands-on experiences building on the theoretical foundations. Two sophomore-year classes, which are entirely experiential-learning, will also be developed. An additional direct contribution of the proposed activities will be the development of techniques that will make mathematical and complex notions accessible to a diverse set of students.