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Sinclair, OSU Teaming Up On Drone Technology

Sinclair Community College in Dayton is joining forces with Ohio State University's engineering school to research and develop new drone technologies. Credits earned by Sinclair students will be transferred to Ohio State programs. Lewis Wallace of member station WSYO in Yellow Springs reports.

Sinclair recently got news of a 4 million dollar grant from the state to improve its facilities for teaching about drones.

Now Sinclair will team up with Ohio State—offering people who get UAS certificates or associate’s degrees options to complete a degree at OSU in data analytics or geospatial precision agriculture. And OSU students will be able to take classes at Sinclair to earn a certificate or degree.

David Williams, the Dean of Engineering at OSU, says the move is about economic development.

DW: Sinclair Community College, like most community colleges, is concerned about training the workforce for the jobs that are coming in the future. And here is an area where we believe there’s going to be great growth, not just in the Dayton area but across the nation.

Farming is expected to be the first major field for the expansion of commercial drone use—and Sinclair’s National Center for UAS Training and Education is trying to get ahead of that development. Just for example, drones can be used to monitor fertilizer, pests and standing water more efficiently.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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