UAS Career Opportunities
UAS Career Outlook Summary
sUAS is expected to have enormous impacts on the nation’s job market and economy, and California has been one of the major drivers of this trend as reflected in industry projections of expected job growth and economic gain within the state (AUVSI, 2013). As the second largest county in the State (3.3 million people) (United States Census Bureau, 2015), San Diego County is a major contributor to the UAS industry in the state and the nation. In fact, Reno (2013) has branded “San Diego, the undisputed drone capital of America.” This is in part due to the county being the home of the world’s two leading UAS manufacturers, which are General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Northrop Grumman. Moreover, Northrop Grumman has designated its facility in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego as its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence since 2013, which further solidifies San Diego’s position as the hotbed of UAS technology (San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, 2013; Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2013). One industry report estimated that the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of UAS contracts in the military sector generated 7,135 jobs, $590 million in wages, and $2.3 billion in total economic output per year in the San Diego region (North San Diego Business Chamber, 2012). Beyond military and defense applications of UAS, the commercial applications of UAS have also seen dramatic growth in the region thanks to small startup companies such as SlantRange (10 employees, $5 million in a first round of venture capital funding), which concentrates not on drone manufacturing and production, but rather the production of drone sensors and drone data analytics for agricultural applications (Freeman, 2016). Other examples of UAS startups in San Diego include SkySafe ($3 million in seed funding), which was founded in 2015 with the goal of keeping restricted airspace (i.e. stadiums, airports, prisons) safe by disabling intrusive rogue drones (Brown, 2016). Another example is the Carlsbad/San Diego-based 5D Robotics ($5.5 million in seed funding), which focuses on the development of high precision automated navigation technology for UAS in mapping and inspection applications (Bigelow, 2016). This project is committed to working with industry partners, and has already secured commitments from organizations including SlantRange, San Diego Gas and Electric, CompassRose GIS, City of San Marcos, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to provide internship opportunities for students.
Past collaborators; Potential internship/employment outlets:
SD Luxury Listings – San Diego
Genesis Digital – San Diego
Rock to Stop Hunger – San Diego
Walking on Water – Carlsbad
Buzz Campbell Band – Temecula
Callaway Golf – San Diego
Actors’ Equity Association – Los Angeles
Dampt Productions – San Marcos
Mechanical Eye – Oceanside
Electric Ivy – San Diego
WTOL-TV – Toledo
North Coast Church – Vista
Dsouza management – Rancho Sante Fe
ColorByEmi – San Diego
EB Creative – Escondido
Pixlwise – San Diego
FJ Ventures
Rolling Reflections – San Diego
GoPro – San Mateo
NCredible Ent. – Los Angeles
Watts Atelier of the Arts – Encinitas
Interpret Studios – Encinitas
MuirSkate – San Diego
Pretzel Logic Productions – San Diego
JMac Productions – Las Vegas
The Father’s House – San Marcos
Karen Haub Fine Art and Design – Poway
Indie Film Factory – Las Vegas
ShootDotEdit – San Diego
NBC 7 – San Diego
Adventure Chest Inc. – Hollywood
Sempra Energy – San Diego
World Vision – Nairobi
Tribune Media – San Diego
Elated Racket – Valley Center
Little Penguin Public Relations – San Diego
Classic Filmworks – Escondido
Foamtec International – San Diego
Emotion Web Video – San Diego
Demandforce – San Francisco
CBS Television Studios – Los Angeles
B-Reel Films – San Diego
M Winehouse – San Diego
Inspired Images Company – Vista
RED Digital Cinema – Irvine
Girlsroom Productions – San Diego
New Mommy Media – San Marcos
Pironics Inc. – San Clemente
Application/Industries
UAS are used in varied applications and industries, such as
Sample Case Study:
Maximizing a Fruit Plantations Yield using UAV Imagery
Determining plant density and identifying canopy gaps is crucial for good plantation management; this helps predict yields and to maximize the yield by refilling planting gaps. Scientific photographs taken from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) allow accurate plant counts and the identification of plant mortality for several hundreds of hectares per day. Studies over different crops show that QuestUAV images are a powerful tool for a plantation management to develop replanting plans and to compare actual vs. target plant density. See full case study at https://www.questuav.com/media/case-study/maximizing-fruit-plantations-yield-using-uav-imagery-questuav-news/
See more case studies at questuav.com/drones/case-studies
icons from the Noun ProjectMap by Martin Vanco Settings by Ahock Precision agriculture by Martin Markstein House Search by Symbolon Tree by prasong tadoungsorn Camera by H Alberto Gongora