22 July 2024

Warren County Community College’s acclaimed drone training program is continuing its collaboration with other institutions in the fast-growing field by supporting a new drone program at nearby Warren County Technical School (WCTS). That program this year made major steps forward with a first-place finish in a high school competition and a new key certification.

WCCC has provided technical and course-building expertise along with funds for equipment for the two-year-old program at WCTS, whose students recently placed first and third in a leading drone flight competition.

“It is so great to see students are Warren County Technical School become so accomplished so quickly,” said Warren County Community College President Will Austin, who has been a champion for drone training at WarrenUAS – and for that program’s support for WCTS. “The program is providing students with an education that can lead them to jobs working with drones and to our program for specific certification or a two-year degree.”

Austin has led WarrenUAS’s collaboration with other institutions in the field, including the leading aeronautical university in the country, Embry-Riddle, based in Daytona Beach, FL. The faculty and students are working together on a number of projects ranging from law enforcement training to using drones to spot some 300,000 pythons living in the Everglades. 

WarrenUAS also has developed a unique collaborative relationship with Rutgers University to use drones to control extremely costly wildlife damage on farmland with even more accurate results.

In addition, Austin and his team at Warren are working with Delaware Valley University in nearby Doylestown, PA. This summer that partnership has involved the two collaborating on programs that bring Delaware Valley’s agriculture program and the WarrenUAS drone expertise together to benefit the students on both campuses and the institutional knowledge on each.

Austin said the work with WCTS is part of an effort connected to WCCC’s collaboration with four-year colleges because it adds to a focused educational pathway for students to gain training in the exciting field at a number of levels.

“I really believe there are a lot of ways that community colleges can be real partners with four-year schools– offering special programs that the bachelor-degree granting institution doesn’t have or providing an introduction to a field that would allow the four-year school to focus more resources on advanced training,” Austin says.” It’s a different type of relationship than one where our students just transfer out and our value is in providing four-year colleges with enrollment prospects.”

Connections to high schools are just as important, he notes.

“We can help them train students who can get into the field at an entry level or gain some fundamental training and move on to our program or others.”

Sean McGeough, who heads drone training program at WCTS, which now enrolls 21 students and is growing, says Warren’s support has been invaluable in the growth of his department – and says recent advances by the program are the proof.

“These were very important steps for our students and this program,” said Sean McGeough, who heads the WCTS drone training department, which enrolls 21 students. “We’re clearly making strides when we see our students compete so well in an important competition while having access to this sort of training. Drones are going to be used in nearly every field, and these students are learning valuable skills that give them the foundations to step into these positions.”

In March, two senior engineering students at WCTS, Grace Seijas and Elijah Lindner, were awarded a gold medal and two junior engineering students at WCTS, Dylan Schulze and Adrian Chan, were awarded a bronze medal in the statewide SkillsUSA Commercial sUAS (Drone) competition held at Gloucester County Institute of Technology in Sewell, NJ.

The competition featured a real-time flight assessment on a course with various obstacles and required precise communications between the pair. The two seniors got the best scores on a written exam about drone flight, maintenance and safety. They will go on to a national competition in Atlanta June 24-28.

The WCTS program got off the ground and grew in part thanks to the support from WarrenUAS, which among other things provided $10,000 worth of equipment for the drone program and other STEM fields. Experts at WarrenUAS have also consulted with McGeough about establishing and building the program.

“It is so great to see students are Warren County Technical School become so accomplished so quickly,” said Warren County Community College President Will Austin, who has been a champion for drone training through WarrenUAS and for support of drone training at WCTS. “The program is providing students with an education which can lead them directly to jobs working with drones or to our program for certificates or a two-year degree or other higher education opportunities.

McGeough teaches a four-year engineering course. In the freshmen year students are introduced to the Recreational UAS Unmanned Aircraft Systems Safety Test (TRUST), which provides education and testing on important safety and regulatory information.

The sophomore year he introduces students to fundamental programming concepts and autonomous flight with the drones. The junior and senior class is combined and involves in the preparation for the Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration.

McGeough completed the Part 107 training recently so that he could add that certification to the mix of material the students are exposed to in the WCTS program, which is part of the school’s engineering department. 

“The avenues for use of drones are growing all the time,” he said. “We are seeing their use repeatedly in the military in Ukraine, but they are also steadily more often used in agriculture, real estate and land use, law enforcement, entertainment, environmental studies and utility maintenance,” he said. “With this course work students are able to get entry-level positions and grow with this new industry.”

He noted that the SkillsUSA gold medal award winner Grace Seijas earned her Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate so she can earn money flying drones for a real estate firm.

“In addition, many of the students in our program will go on to WarrenUAS to get one of the certifications they offer or a full two-year associate degree,” he noted.

McGeough said that he wants to continue to build the program with more advanced technology and a broader array of projects, including practice working with local farmers or working on projects related to inspection of the school’s large solar array. He also believes design and maintenance of drones is a field where many more technicians are needed – and wants to provide students with a broader understanding of the mechanics of the equipment and applicable software.

The Engineering Advisory Board at WCTS includes Austin and Joseph Tinervia, a recent WarrenUAS graduate, whose drone service company, Joe Drones On, offers an array of services. Board members are providing assistance in developing and promoting the program, he noted, and assisting in special training for students.

“In two years, this program has really taken shape,” Austin said. “We have learned how this technology really engages students and leads them into good-paying careers. The opportunities are growing every day.”

WarrenUAS itself has grown rapidly in the seven years since its birth, next fall enrolling 80-100 students who will have an opportunity to work with its $5-million worth of drone and robotic equipment, including the latest technology such as advanced multispectral sensing, aerial robotic spraying and treatment, and data processing through artificial intelligence.

Additional advancements in research capacity, equipment, and the ability to design, fabricate, and program unique one-of-a-kind robotic drones are expected this year thanks to Congressional Appropriation from New Jersey’s U.S Senators, Austin noted. It has been the recipient of a significant amount of state and federal funding – and support from local jurisdictions.

Austin points out that two of Warren’s 2024 graduates were already working prior to graduation at starting compensation of $110,000 using what they learned at WarrenUAS and other graduates have found positions in a variety of sectors.

“There are so many opportunities for good-paying jobs in this field – and they are growing incredibly fast as drones become such a useful tool in so many industries,” Austin said. “It is really exciting to see this program take shape with our help.”

Grace Seijas, one of the gold medal winners from WCTS, says she hopes to find work in the real estate or construction industry, or “any other business interested in pictures taken from previously unreachable angles”.

“I’m interested in drones because of the opportunities that they present for new operators and drone technicians,” she said. “The drone industry is growing and many businesses have begun to take a new interest in the benefits that drones can provide.” 

“The fact that we now have the technology to fly in the air with just a little piece of metal and plastic is just amazing to me,” said Adrian Chan, another one of the WCTS students in the competition. “I would like to turn it into a side career and eventually maybe develop my own company.”