Will the FAA & Government prevent private enterprise from expanding the use of drones?
Paul Karlowitz has spent more than 40 years flying airplanes or teaching people to fly them, first as a U.S. Air Force pilot and now as a professor of aviation at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
But today, Karlowitz is spending less time in an airplane cockpit and more time on the ground leading ULM’s new drone program, a concentration within the aviation department. ULM, the only Louisiana university to offer such a concentration, also offers a post-baccalaureate certificate.
“It’s really a coming thing,” Karlowitz said of unmanned aircraft technology.
And although Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos grabbed headlines late last year when he said his company is testing package delivery using drones, Karlowitz believes the biggest opportunities in Louisiana will come in agriculture.
“There are near-infrared cameras for drones that are specially designed for analyzing crops,” Karlowitz said. “It can analyze the health of the crop — detect problems before the farmer can even see them with his eyes.
“It provides a chance to identify and treat problems before any damage is done.”
A study commissioned last year for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International forecast the total economic impact of drone integration in the U.S. from 2015-17 to be $13.7 billion with more than 70,000 jobs created.