11 March 2025

WarrenUAS, the pioneering New Jersey-based drone training program from Warren Community College, is shifting to another level of capability and sophistication through a new relationship with one of the leading experts in large-scale, complex Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Public Aircraft Operations (PAO).

Ed Celiano, the past executive director of the New Jersey Unmanned Aviation Systems Test Site (NJUASTS), established by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, is joining the experts at WarrenUAS as a consultant and instructor in the safe planning and operations of large UAS within the National Airspace System (NAS). His unmanned systems background began at a UAS OEM, supplying Class 2 and 3 intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance systems to the Department of Defense.

Examples of the planned WarrenUAS operations involving Celiano will include research in support of the Department of Defense, natural resource and agriculture management, disaster response and recovery, critical infrastructure inspections as well as first responder and law enforcement operations including counter-UAS work.

“This is another huge step for us,” said Warren President Will Austin, who made WarrenUAS a priority for the college and in five years has grown it into one of the top training programs in the country for unmanned systems. “Ed has worked in the Defense Department technology field for more than 40 years, leading programs and organizations in the development and deployment of mission critical technologies, including for the past 14 years overseeing military and public Class 2 and 3 UAS flight operations. He will fit perfectly into the great team here and add a whole new dimension to our UAS activities and electives for students.”

Celiano has a long resume of work in the field, most recently leading all flight operations for the NJUASTS in both NJ and seven additional states, furthering the safe integration of UAS into the national air space. Celiano noted he and his team “uniquely enabled UAS public aircraft operations to take place geographically exactly where they were needed across the country”.

Prior to his entry into the world of UAS, Celiano was the general manager of the Drexel University Applied Communications and Information Networking Center, at that time the largest joint Department of Defense business and technology incubation and commercialization “Center of Excellence” in the United States.

He also was general manager and vice president of operations at S.T. Production Systems in Farmingdale, NJ (Formerly FEL Corporation), a vertically integrated military electronics warfare and Naval communications systems corporation.

“My vertically integrated facilities at FEL exceeded 500,000 square feet of combined military systems manufacturing, research and development, systems engineering, test and product qualification operations,” he explained. Those primary systems included surface ship torpedo defense and airborne communications systems, airborne data links, threat emulation systems, active and passive EW systems, surface and subsurface threat identification systems, and 2,000-pound Quickstrike mines, he added.

Celiano said the position at Warren allows him at this stage of his career to continue to work in the research and education sector, both to elevate the capabilities of the college to acquire more complex UAS authorizations and train students to navigate the larger more sophisticated class of unmanned systems.

WarrenUAS has been unique in its ability to obtain certain rigorous FAA certifications to fly above populated areas or out of the line of sight of operators (Part 107 of the Code of Federal Regulations concerning UAS), but Celiano brings over a decade of experience with larger class systems requiring complex authorizations for flight operations using varied and heavier payloads, not common in any other collegiate drone program.

“The intent is for WarrenUAS to expand its current Part 107 centric flight operations to include Public Aircraft Operations,” he explained.  “I intend to help the college move forward with this capability while assuring the safe operation of more complicated systems. At the same time, I am assisting in the development of curriculum that will enable students to get a firm grasp of this scale of operation and the many career opportunities that are developing in this market space.”

Austin noted that the addition of Celiano “provides a new dimension to a program that has made great strides just as this field is booming. I don’t think this kind of training has been available at the collegiate level, so this partnership again takes WarrenUAS to heights we never imagined when we initiated the program. We are extremely fortunate Ed has agreed to join our team, where the real winners will be our students and the companies that will eventually employ them.”

“We’ve been able to acquire more than $5 million in UAS technology and top-notch instructors to provide a wide range of UAS training in fields ranging from agriculture – which has been one of our priorities – to law enforcement, search and rescue and firefighting, all while doing cutting-edge research,” Austin said.

“Having Ed working with us will help us provide students with direct exposure to more sophisticated equipment in whole new environments, all within the strict guidance of the FAA,” he added.

“I’m excited to be part of the work Dr. Will and WarrenUAS are doing,” Celiano said. “It’s a great opportunity for me to pass along my knowledge gained during the wide range of experiences I’ve had, and help the college advance in this fast-growing, exciting field.”