Collaborative Research: Unmanned Aerial Systems and Specialized Workforce Development to Support Oklahoman Agriculture and Industry

俄克拉荷马州涉及农业、能源生产以及石油和天然气加工/分销的几个行业最近已开始使用无人驾驶航空系统(UAS或更常见的“无人机”)，以提高服务质量和降低运营成本。该项目将在罗斯州立大学(RSC)创建一个新的体验式学习教育计划，以培训学生，他们将成为未来在广泛的民用和军事应用中设计、维护和使用UAS的劳动力。培训这一专门的劳动力以满足行业需求带来了独特的挑战，这不能仅仅通过将无人机视为较小的飞机来解决。这一无人机项目的优势之一是，它将为RSC学生提供坚实的背景，使他们能够满足快速变化的无人机技术需求。RSC与俄克拉何马大学(OU)密切合作，将建立一条从高中到当地行业的学生渠道，以更好地为毕业生未来的大学经历做好准备。RSC位于俄克拉荷马州中部的中西部城市，其代表人数不足，少数族裔(URM)人口超过37%。这一ATE项目将加强发展一支多样化的、具有全球竞争力的STEM工作队伍。UAS课程将得到以证据为基础的方法的支持，使用详细的评估计划，帮助完善和注入有意义的活动到技术课程中。更具体地说，这一面向技术人员和工程师的UAS教育项目将提供编程、空气动力学、飞行动力学和控制、UAS操作、有效载荷和应用、材料和制造以及UAS法规等基础知识的技术背景。核心的数学和物理课程将伴随着体验式学习方法，为学生提供广泛的实践经验，建立在理论基础上。还将开发两个完全体验式学习的大二年级班级。拟议活动的另一个直接贡献将是开发技术，使不同类别的学生能够接触到数学和复杂的概念。

Several Oklahoma industries, involved in agriculture, energy generation, as well as oil and natural gas processing/distribution, have recently started employing unmanned aerial systems (UAS or more commonly "drones") to improve the quality of services and reduce operational costs. This project will create a new experiential-learning educational program at the Rose State College (RSC) to train students, who will become the future workforce in the design, maintenance, and use of UAS across a wide range of civilian and military applications. Training this specialized workforce to meet the industry needs presents unique challenges, which cannot be addressed by merely considering UAS as smaller aircraft. One of the points of strength of this UAS program is that it will provide RSC students with a solid background that will allow them to meet the rapidly changing needs of drone technologies. Working in close collaboration with the University of Oklahoma (OU), RSC will establish a pipeline of students from high school to local industries in order to better prepare its graduates for future college experiences. RSC is located in Midwest City, Central Oklahoma, with an under-represented and minority (URM) population exceeding 37%. This ATE project will enhance development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce.The UAS curriculum will be supported by an evidence-based approach in the use of an elaborate evaluation plan that will help to refine and infuse meaningful activities into a technical curriculum. More specifically, this UAS education program for technicians and engineers will provide technical background in the fundamentals of programming, aerodynamics, flight dynamics and control, UAS operations, payloads and applications, materials and manufacturing, as well as UAS regulations. Core math and physics classes will be accompanied by an experiential-learning approach to provide students with extensive hands-on experiences building on the theoretical foundations. Two sophomore-year classes, which are entirely experiential-learning, will also be developed. An additional direct contribution of the proposed activities will be the development of techniques that will make mathematical and complex notions accessible to a diverse set of students.