U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), a member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee, announced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had selected the University of North Dakota (UND) to be part of its Unmanned Aerial Systems Collegiate Training Initiative (UAS-CTI).
The UAS-CTI program was established by Congress in 2018 to ensure the U.S. can meet the demand for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operators and to support the integration of the technology into the national airspace.
“UND is a world-class aviation school and plays a significant role in the nation’s UAS ecosystem,” Hoeven said. “It makes sense for the FAA to rely further on UND to meet the workforce needs of this quickly growing industry. That’s exactly why we authorized this program through the 2018 FAA reauthorization, and this selection builds on our state’s role as a hub of UAS research, development, training, and operations.”
UND first established a degree program for UAS operations in 2009, the first school in the country to do so.
Paul Snyder, UAS program director at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at UND, said the announcement reinforces UND’s position at a leading UAS education and research facility.
“This new level of partnership will help the FAA address labor force needs and ensure that graduates have the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a successful career,” Snyder said. “The CTI distinction reflects our attitude of wanting to continuously improve UND’s UAS program.