County, College Embrace New Economic Sector

When we hear the term “drone,” many of us may picture only the craft so often depicted in dramatic television shows or movies, or used in the projections of the high-tech package deliveries Amazon has targeted for our futures. 
But applications of drone technology have potential throughout virtually every aspect of our daily lives, and the business of drones, or “UAS” (unmanned aircraft systems), is an emerging industry in which both Cape May County and Atlantic Cape Community College share a unique and strong interest that is already rooted here and promises to grow.
Even as I write, the Cape May County freeholders are working diligently to sponsor a drone program that already has gained national recognition.  As just one example, four years ago they began sponsoring monthly “Innovation Forums” that attracted a very small group of UAS innovators at first. 
Today, they select invitees from a core group of over 300 innovators from throughout New Jersey and surrounding states; every six weeks some 45 companies come into the county to swap stories about what they are doing with UAS technology. 
During the course of these “meet-ups,” exciting ideas are discussed, and some of the companies actually start thinking about Southern Jersey as a potential site for their businesses.
College representatives often participate in the forums and other county UAS events, both to support the county’s innovative initiatives and to add the college’s expertise. 
For, even as the county grew its drone program, we were building our aviation curriculum … and that included determining how best to offer our residents training that would enable them to enter the burgeoning field of UAS.
Make no mistake about how much financial promise this field holds. A recent economic study by Goldman Sachs projects a domestic economic impact of $100 billion by the year 2020. 
That is within the United States alone, and during a period when the Federal Aviation Administration still has not determined that commercial drones may fly freely through the national airspace. 
Our students must be given the opportunity to develop the skills needed to attain jobs in this industry.
Crucially, it is an industry that can operate here without doing damage to all the things that make our area so beautiful.  UAS jobs frequently involve engineering, programming, design or another skilled activity with the aircraft or its sensors, or engaging in the operation of the craft with other pilots and engineers. 
Cape May County is the perfect place for such operations to occur, as it is a peninsula at the southern tip of New Jersey, with relatively uncomplicated airspace that many believe is the ideal place to conduct drone research and development activities. 
Not only is the industry perfectly suited to our geospatial features, but it will provide the year-round, well-paying jobs that will benefit all residents.
This is an industry whose applications seem to grow daily, in ways that are very real rather than cinematic.
Take law enforcement;  it’s not about expensive suspect chases through residential areas, but rather police officers employing drones to seek an elderly person who has wandered into a wooded area or a boater lost on the marsh. 
Or perhaps an officer will use drones to help recreate an accident scene, or to assist in disaster recovery. 
Note, too, how well drone technology lends itself to entrepreneurial businesses.  If your solar panels or roof require inspection, a drone can perform the task at low cost and low risk. 
Photography is rising to new heights via drones in all fields, from real estate to weddings and beyond. 
Our students at Atlantic Cape Community College have used drones to study aspects of local agriculture crops, sensing the healthiness of everything from oyster farms to blueberry and cranberry bogs.
With this sort of experience available, it’s no accident that the majority of our students graduate capable of attaining Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification to fly drones, and also with a strong sense of a variety of the business models that will enable them to establish a career in UAS.
I am very pleased to let residents know that Atlantic Cape recently was awarded a prestigious $250,000 National Science Foundation grant to establish a drone pilot and maintenance and repair program in Cape May County. 
The program will build upon our existing short-term certificate program in UAS operations and offer, in addition, a new degree or long-term certificate.
This grant will allow us to address an area of the industry that is ripe for growth:  for, while many drones are being built in the United States every year, there are very few that repair drones when they break or malfunction. Don’t be surprised to see demand for this business function skyrocket soon, and we intend to help our residents be there to meet it.
Drone information sessions will be offered Aug. 23 at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. at the Cape May County Campus to inform the public about these developments, as well as details of a new three-day course we will be offering to law enforcement personnel from throughout the state who wish to train in what is known as “Rule 107” drone training. 
In a future column, I will address how both the county and the college are demonstrating that they are mindful of the need to develop policies that protect consumer’s privacy and foster responsible drone usage.