Kirk Ellern, co-founder of Above NV, a drone surveying and mapping start-up, teaches an aerial robotics class through Truckee Meadows Community College. The tests mark the ramp up of Nevada’s status as one of six sites authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct research and trials of UAVs, better known as drones. Engineers from the University of Nevada, Reno and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration next month will begin doing as many as five test flights a day of unmanned aerial vehicles at Reno Stead Airport. The flights aren’t the only thing taking off in the state’s burgeoning drone industry. UNR’s Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center located in the new Innevation Center downtown, is expanding and several drone start-ups, including two in Reno, are in the market now. “The College of Engineering is the fastest growing college at UNR. With Tesla and Switch and Apple and this. You’ve got to have those skill sets if you want to be a part of it,” said Warren Rapp, director of business at NAASIC. “That’s really what’s exciting about it. It’s a new chapter for Nevada.” Nevada is helping the FAA test a traffic management system for drones called […]
