Products, Courses and Legal Issues Discussed
Brandon Montellato of DJI describing some of the company’s new products
The SF Bay Area ATRE program hosted a conference for area faculty interested in collaborative curriculum developments on Monday, January 9, 2017. The event was hosted at Ohlone College and was attended by over 30 participants with interests in diverse Drone applications such as Agriculture, First Responder training, Photography, Repair and FAA Test Preparation.
Industry Partners Offer Educational Incentives to Colleges
Seven speakers provided information on products, courses and legal issues. Gregory Crutsinger of Parrot and Brandon Montellato of DJI (both drone manufacturers) provided updates on their recent models and educational incentives their firms provide to colleges. Antoine Martin of software developer Pix4D provided an overview of how their popular software is used to create 3- and 4-D images from Drone cameras, and the incentive programs they provide to colleges.
Current College Drone Programs Explored
Brad Weisberg from West Valley College described the three-college consortia that has developed in the Bay Area to provide students in the South Bay FAA Test Prep, Drone Repair and Agricultural application training. This was augmented by Josh Friedman from Golden West College (Huntington Beach) who provided a review and demonstration of what is taught in drone photography programs in the Orange County area.
Insights into the state of practice of Agricultural applications and First Responder was provided by Mike Bonillas whose business, Brilliant Perspective LLC, supports both these user groups with commercial services. And, finally, to anchor the proliferating opportunities in reality, Brandon Stark of UC Merced provided a perspective on the importance of rules and legal requirements colleges need to consider as they develop and support drone-related programs.
Mike Bonillas and Brandon Montellato demonstrating flight characteristics
The formal presentations were followed by round table discussion allowing faculty to pursue their specific interest with the speaker(s) whose topic was most pertinent to their interest. Photography, Agriculture and FAA Test-Prep appear to be areas of most immediate interest and focus.
Following the indoor portion of the agenda, some of the attendees adjourned to the outdoors to watch a comparison of flight characteristics, and to create a short drone-based video.
