Syracuse University is part of team of universities aiming to become leaders in drone research.

The universities, led by Georgia Institute of Technology, applied earlier this year to receive a Center of Excellence distinction by the Federal Aviation Administration for unmanned aircraft systems, more commonly known as drones. If chosen for the distinction, SU could be able to do more drone research and possibly incorporate drones into the university curriculum.

In the university’s most recent lobbying report, filed last Monday, SU reported $70,000 in total lobbying activity for the third quarter of 2014, which included lobbying efforts on SU’s drone research.

SU faculty contacted congressional leaders, such as Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), to ask for their support and to let them know about the application, said Eric Persons, associate vice president of government and community relations at SU.

On Oct. 22, Schumer urged the FAA to accept the application from SU’s group. Schumer’s office could not be reached for comment.

If the group that includes SU becomes a recognized COE, SU will be able to work on FAA research assignments, Persons said. To cover the first two years of work done by the COE, the FAA is committing $1 million in funding to cover fiscal years 2015 and 2016.

Although SU already has experience in drone research, faculty and administrators said the designation would allow the school to do even more research as well as greatly increase opportunities for students in this area.

SU’s involvement in the process to become a COE began due to the drone industry’s presence in central New York, said Pramod Varshney, a professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Earlier this year, Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York was named by the FAA as one of six locations across the country for drone testing. SU hopes to take advantage of Griffiss’s proximity to campus, Varshney said.

Varshney said the FAA is interested in SU potentially doing drone research because its faculty members in the College of Engineering and Computer Science have experience with drone technology.

“They have specified a number of areas they will be asking for expertise in,” Varshney said.

Also, SU has expertise in tracking and detection technology, information fusion and spectrum communications or the communication between a drone and a control tower, Varshney said.

The aerospace engineering program at SU currently enables students to work with drone technology, but with the distinction, there will be even more work done with regard to noise reduction and wake separation, or reducing sound from liftoff and landing, said Gina Lee-Glauser, vice president of research at SU and a research professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Even if SU doesn’t get the distinction, Lee-Glauser said the drone technology program at SU will continue to flourish. But if SU’s team receives the FAA designation, undergraduate and graduate students will be able to work at Griffiss, Varshney said, sometimes in the form of internships.

Different programs across campus will have the opportunity to incorporate drones into the curriculum.

“We are coming at it from a very holistic perspective,” Persons said.

For example, Dan Pacheco, Peter A. Horvitz Endowed Chair of Journalism Innovation at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, has worked with drones with regard to aerial footage. Pacheco did a demonstration in Manley Field House with drones last January when Schumer announced that Griffiss would be one of six sites for drone research.

Persons added that Schumer was interested in drone technology from an economic perspective.

“Given that this is a new industry, it’s very young, we don’t know where it’s going quite yet, there is a lot of innovation that needs to take place,” Persons said.

He added that SU is interested in the civil and commercial uses of drones such as sports coverage, agriculture and inspecting infrastructure.

Said Persons: “We are already leaders in our field in a number of areas where unmanned aerial systems can provide an important function to society.”

Published on October 29, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Rob: rromano@syr.edu