UND, NCTC vow closer UAS partnership
March 12, 2012 at 2:17 pm in Grand Forks Herald
Institutions say agreement could attract more fed fundsUND and Northland Community and Technical College officials signed a formal agreement Monday to work closer together on unmanned aircraft system issues and, they say, improve the chances of attracting more federal funding. Continue Reading
What a great collaboration for the schools & our community. Please start working asap with our local high schools to coordinate high school class selections & create some excitement with our local students to learn about this option for their continued education right here at home. Keep it Local.
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I agree. More than keeping the education local – we already do a fantastic job with that – we need to keep the jobs that education produces local.
There are many reasons ND should be a hub for UAV development and training. Not the least of which is our airspace. I fly near the AZ/MX border. The Army has a huge UAV training program there. Within 50 miles you have two class D airports and a college aviatin program, within 100 miles you have a busy Class C airport, an Air Force Base, and several small class D reliever airports, and within 200 miles you have the tenth busies airport in the nation, another active duty Air Force Base, and 5 class D reliever airports.
There is no where near that level of congestion here in GF. Even if every aircraft UND owned was in the air, there would still be parcels of airspace larger than most eastern states completely vacant.
I hope this coordinated effort results in UAV jobs staying local. The oil boom is just that: a boom. By definition in 10-20 years it will bust. This has the potential for long term, stable, economic impact for the region.
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