The University of Maine at Augusta’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operation Center recently moved into Hangar 6, the newest of Brunswick Executive Airport’s hangars. UMA UAS is one of seven businesses now located in Hangar 6.
Dr. Tom Abbott, Project Manager for UAS Ops along with Col. Dan Leclair, Education and Research Director have located their offices in Hangar 6 and have begun creating an Operations Center for teaching and research.
Formerly at the Augusta Campus of UMA, Tom and Dan are teaching UMA’s noncredit Part 107 prep course, AVI 100. To date 156 students have taken this 32-clock hour course to prepare them to sit for the FAA Remote Pilot exam. To date, all who have taken the exam have passed it with flying colors. In January, UMA will begin offering a new non-credit refresher course for those part 107 pilots who need to renew their certificate after two years.
In addition to the noncredit courses, UMA will begin offering an 6-course sequence in January 2019 that will satisfy requirements for a UMA’s Undergraduate in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Certificate. UMA focuses on training UAS pilots and related applications featuring rotary and fixed-wing drones. Students who are interested may apply for the 31-academic credit certificate by contacting UMA in Augusta. This certificate will soon be approved for financial aid and Veterans’ benefits.
That set of 6 UAS courses will also soon be available as a concentration within UMA’s BS in Aviation, taking the place of the CFI/II option provided in the senior year. They would graduate with a Private, Instrument and Commercial FAA rating, along with this UAS Certificate, making them very attractive to large companies and the US government all of whom are working on new UAS/Drone applications in this brand new field.
Contact Col. Dan Leclair at UMA: Daniel.m.leclair@maine.edu
Required Courses in the UAS Certificate are listed below:
- 4cr – UAS 210 – Initial FAA Certification (concurrent with non-credit AVI 100) with lab
- 3cr – UAS 109 – UAS Seeing Photographically (Digital photography and curation of photographic images and prepare them for printing and display
- 4cr – UAS 220 – Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Design, Assembly, and Maintenance
(Fixed Wing Aircraft) with lab - 4cr – UAS 230 – Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Design, Assembly, and Maintenance
(Rotary Wing Aircraft) with lab - 4cr – UAS 310 – UAS Operations (autopilot operations) with lab
- 4cr – UAS 320 – Large Aircraft Operations (how to operate and fly large fixed wing aircraft) with lab
- 4cr – UAS 410 – Photogrammetry (Capture, process, analyze sUAS photographic data for mapping, agriculture, surveying, and inspections) with lab
- 4cr – UAS 499 – UAS Internship
