The drone industry is looking to become a key aspect of how society functions. The Citrus College Drone program is built to prepare prospective pilots for the industry.
Plus, because it’s noncredit, it’s free.
Professor Ryan Woolford started the program in the fall semester of 2022 with the hope of bringing a new career-oriented program to the school in a new industry.
Since starting the program, 11 students have received their drone pilot licenses. Thirty students that have been certified for Drone Deploy, a drone mapping program.
Citrus’ non-credit program is free, compared to similar programs that can range from $100 to a few thousand depending on what is offered with the course.
In the program, students get hands-on experience with professional drones and the actual software a pilot can use in the field.
Drones are commonly used for their photo and video capabilities. However, they can also be used for search and rescue, mapping, package delivery, solar panel inspections and the military.
With the current war in Ukraine, an estimated 10,000 drones are used monthly.
Companies such as UPS, Amazon, FedEx and Zipline are developing systems for drone delivery.
Thermal imaging cameras, speakers, claw arms and signaling lights are small advancements being made in the search and rescue field for drones. Sending out drones is safer, easier and often more effective at finding lost individuals than sending a search and rescue team or a helicopter.
Woolford noted that students who grew up with video games such as “Call of Duty,” “Halo” or other console games found learning to fly to be easy. This is likely due to the controllers for drones and consoles being similar.
During the U.S. military’s time in Iraq and Afghanistan, drones started becoming more common. The military started recruiting gamers to be drone pilots as opposed to normal fighter pilot recruits because they were natural at flying the drones.
The program at Citrus offers two certificates, one is in drone technology, the other in drone operations. The program has six classes in total.
These classes are eight weeks long on average and usually meet on Fridays. The class is three to four hours long.
After taking the class, many students have expressed to Woolford that they’re looking at making their own businesses with their new skillset.
Being a part of a still-growing and futuristic industry is interesting and drone piloting is a skill set that can be useful in many fields. Learning the skills necessary to work in the field in a free program is a great opportunity for students.
The author of this article has taken classes for this program.
