Drone Educator Conference

I recently attended a drone conference in Saratoga, CA (on the campus of West Valley Community College). Saratoga is near San Jose, and because of that, finds itself in the middle of a lot of technology research and development. It was fitting, therefore, to have a drone conference at West Valley Community College. Attendees at the conference included both educators (from high school, community college, and university) and industry (including a representative from DJI). Some nice information was shared, including the advances in different drone technology as well as curriculum information for the Part 107 license examination. For our part, representatives from Southwestern College and Palomar College highlighted elements of the Palomar College program. Palomar has offered drone curriculum a bit longer than most institutions. Nevertheless, it was nice to hear what other institutions were doing, and what elements of drone education they were focusing upon. It seems that data acquisition from drones and image analysis (or even just imaging) are prevalent uses of drones. The smaller, commercial drones (designed for both the hobbyist and professional alike) are easy to fly, have great optical devices on them, and are becoming less and less expensive to acquire and maintain. It’s always a fine line between a passing fancy and something that will stick! But, I’m inclined to believe that the drone industry (especially for personal/professional use) will continue to grow as the technology becomes more and more available. Southwestern College and Palomar College will continue to lead San Diego County in academic opportunities in this exciting and growing technological area.