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Unmanned Systems Training Earns Sinclair Community College Federal Recognition

The Federal Aviation Administration named the Ohio college as a center for excellence.

(TNS) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, as the only community college in nation to join its Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence.

Sinclair will be part of the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE), officials said.

The FAA selected Sinclair because of its expertise in training a workforce for the unmanned systems industry, said Stephen Luxion, ASSURE associate director and retired Air Force colonel.

The community college has more flexibility and speed than a university does to test curriculum changes, which could serve as an educational model nationally and grow in importance as the FAA creates operating rules for the burgeoning industry, he added.

"We can actually test a new curriculum here that we can't do at any other university," Luxion said. "As we develop rules and standards, particularly in human factors, we will need to train to that."

New Training Center

Sinclair opened the $5 million National UAS Training and Certification Center last year, and the FAA and college officials announced Sinclair's admission into the Center of Excellence at a press conference Thursday inside the recently opened UAS indoor flying pavilion on the college's downtown campus.

"Joining this organization will provide Sinclair with the opportunity to share our expertise and collaborate with some of the leaders in the UAS field who are doing some truly groundbreaking work to advance the industry," Deborah Norris, vice president of workforce development and corporate services, said in a statement.

ASSURE is a consortium of 22 universities and colleges across the nation, including Ohio State -- which has a UAS research partnership with Sinclair -- and more than 100 industry-related organizations and government agencies. The collaboration has focused on research and training to integrate drones into civilian air space.

Their research includes developing sense-and-avoid technology to prevent collisions between aircraft and drones and identifying ways to reduce unmanned aerial vehicle noise, among other targeted issues.

"... Being a member allows us access to best practices (and) to partners who are working on parts of this industry that we are not working on so we can marry our strengths together," Sinclair President and CEO Steven L. Johnson told this newspaper.

Drone Dynasty

Drones have gained popularity with hobbyists and businesses, selling at least a projected 700,000 alone during the holiday shopping season last year by one industry estimate.

A trade group study estimated the industry could reach reach $94 billion and a workforce of more than 100,000 in the United States within a decade.

As more pilots reported seeing drones in flight near aircraft, the FAA mandated last month that owners of small drones must register with the federal agency. The FAA told this newspaper Thursday that nearly 300,000 owners have registered.

Congress had set a September 2015 deadline for the FAA to integrate drones into civilian air space, but that didn't happen. The FAA expects to finalize rules on operating small drones "later this spring," agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said in an email Thursday. The rules will regulate drones less than 55 pounds.

"What Congress wanted was a very complex question," Luxion said in an interview Thursday. "Much more complex than they ever realize and the FAA probably even realized since we started peeling back the onion."

He said it will take years to fully integrate a wide range of drones of all sizes and capabilities into the national air space system. "Think in terms of early aviation and how that progressed," he said.

©2016 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio), distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.