VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
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VEGAS INC UNLV GETTING ITS WINGS WITH NEW AREA OF STUDY: UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES TEST RUN: Senior mechanical engineering student Muhammad Ayub demonstrates the Variable Pitch Quad Rotor Kopter during UNLV's College of Engineering's Senior Design Competition at Cox Pavilion. DRONEs, From page 1 While the U.S. military continues to advance its drone technology — most recently landing a UAV on a moving aircraft carrier for the first time — companies now are starting to look at ways drones can be used in the civilian world. Commercial drones have the potential for many practical applications: counting desert wildlife, shooting unique perspectives for movies, monitoring nuclear disasters and more. An explosion of commercial drones is expected to transform the aerospace industry, which will see $90 billion in revenue worldwide by 2025, according 14 20130812_VI01_F.indd 14 "We want to be proactive. We want to be ready. This is something that students are going to need to know about for them to get jobs here and in other places. They need to be introduced to this." — THOMAS PIECHOTA, UNLV ENGINEERING PROFESSOR to some economists. Nevada wants a piece of that pie. "Nevada is pretty well situated for this (industry)," said Thomas Piechota, a UNLV engineering professor who is interim vice president for research. "It will bring new jobs here, and we want to be able to support that workforce." State and UNLV officials say the conditions are perfect for Nevada to grow its commercial drone industry. Nevada's climate is ideal for year-round flying. Many areas of the state are sparsely populated, making testing drones more feasible. Plus, the state already houses several aerospace companies and Air Force bases from which to draw expertise. LEILA NAVIDI "We're definitely ahead of the curve in terms of access to subject-matter experts that helped develop this industry," said Tom Wilczek, an industry expert with Sandoval's economic development office. "We have an immeasurable amount of assets." Advocates argue the conditions make Nevada an ideal candidate to partner with the federal government to test-fly drones. In February 2012, Congress passed the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, which tasked the FAA with developing regulations to open airspace to unmanned drones by 2015. Currently, the FAA allows only piloted aircraft, whether by remote | 12 AUGUST 2013 | 8/8/13 2:11:01 PM