Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Site Planning Grant

The proposed planning activity seeks to undertake planning of the establishment of a new Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) site at Drexel University of the existing Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS). The center currently involves Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), and industry and government partners in the UAS field. The Drexel site intends to augment the centers current capabilities with additional capabilities to investigate and develop heath monitor, architectures, and operational procedures for unmanned aircraft systems.

The planned site, in combination with the existing center plans to support the US in maintaining its dominance in UAS through cooperative research bringing together all sectors military, commercial and civil. Impact is expected to extend to civil and commercial applications that include infrastructure inspection and monitoring, law enforcement, border patrol, and disaster recovery. The site plans to have a significant impact on UAS curriculum through course design, textbooks, new laboratory exercises, and senior design experiences. The center intends to give students the opportunity to define and work on research that is directly relevant to industry and government labs.