The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI), the leading provider of career and technical education (CTE) curriculum and industry certifications to students interested in a career as professional remote pilots, and DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, announced a partnership to promote unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) learning in STEAM fields (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) providing students with a path for jobs in the rapidly growing commercial drone industry.
The USI STEAM education program is tailored toward high schools and colleges, and provides teacher credentialing, course materials, and drones, supplied by DJI, to educational institutions throughout the United States.
The program will offer USI’s suite of education resources designed for students of all levels. Students who successfully complete at least 155 classroom hours in the education program are eligible to take USI’s credentialing exam leading to the Small UAS Safety Certification, an industry certification demonstrating expertise as a professional remote pilot and making them highly qualified for careers in the burgeoning UAS industry.
In August 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) placed into effect 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 107 governing the widespread use of drones for commercial purposes. Since then, businesses around the United States have discovered and realized tremendous benefits in utilizing this advanced technology from a cost-savings, time-efficiency, and personnel safety approach. The rapid proliferation of commercial drones has created tremendous demand for hundreds of thousands of new jobs and the FAA estimates there could be as many as 2.3 million licensed commercial drone pilots by 2020.
“The Unmanned Safety Institute is proud to announce this partnership with DJI to support teachers and students in high schools and colleges across the country,” said Aaron Greenwald, president of USI. “Through our partnership, we are combining USI’s award-winning education and certification programs with DJI’s powerful aircraft technology to provide a comprehensive ‘turnkey’ solution for educators that is unmatched anywhere in the world.”
“At DJI we believe that allowing students to work with cutting edge technology like our commercial drone platforms will inspire them and allow them to see potential career opportunities,” said Romeo Durscher, director of education at DJI. “This program will provide educators with the tools they need to give students hands-on experiences with technology that is becoming pervasive across a wide variety of industries including construction, agriculture, insurance and emergency services.”
