Drone Technology

The drone technology certificate of achievement program is designed to prepare students to take the Federal Aviation Administration Part 107 commercial drone pilot exam and for entry into careers that employ generalized or specialized applications of drones. Students will select an area of business, industry, or government to apply drone piloting, data acquisition, data processing.

 

To earn the certificate of achievement students must complete the following courses with a minimum of grade of C or higher.

Estimated Headcount, FTES,and Completer Projections

 

Unduplicated Headcount
Year 1	FA	15	SP	15
Year 2	FA	15	SP	15

 

Projected Annual FTES
Year 1	26.2
Year 2	26.2

 

Annual Completers
Year 1	10
Year 2	10

Drone technology is a versatile and emerging technology that allows site and environmental data acquisition. Post processing allows the use of data by businesses, planners, law enforcement and public services, city and county offices. There is an emerging occupational need for drone operators at county and city departments, fire and law enforcement, marketing and delivery, as well as for environmental monitoring. Drone operators must pass the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) part 107 exam for commercial drone piloting. This program prepares students to take the exam as well as presenting an interdisciplinary emphasis that allows them to choose an area of emphasis in the application of drone operation, data acquisition, and data processing.

Upon completion of this program, students will be able to:

1. Explain the basics of drone flight preparation.

2. Demonstrate how to download and post-process data acquired with drone.

3. Describe UAS laws, airspace regulations, and licensing.

4. Demonstrate the procedures for analyzing data obtained during a drone flight.
5. Demonstrate how the data obtained from drone is applied in a selected profession.

6. Explain the how data acquired by drone is used in geospatial applications.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
GEOG-164	Fundamentals of Drone Operations and Licensing	3	Y1
GEOG-165	Drone Remote Sensing	3	Y1

and complete at least 6 units from one of the following groups:

Geography and Geospatial
GEOG-125 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)    3
GEOG-129 Field Data Acquisition and Management                            3
GEOG-160 Introduction to Remote Sensing                                           3  

 

Administration of Justice
ADJUS-203 Crime Scene Investigation                                                     4

ADJUS-222Criminal Investigation                                                            3
ADJUS-250 Terrorism and Homeland Security                                       3

 

Art Digital Media
ARTDM-105 Introduction to Digital Imaging                                          3
ARTDM-117 Digital Illustration                                                                 3

Biology and Environmental Science
BIOSC-126 Ecology and Field Biology                                                      4
BIOSC-170 Environmental Science                                                          3
GEOG-140 Introduction to Weather                                                       3

Business and Entrepreneurship
ARCHI-120 Introduction to Architecture and Environmental Design 3
CONST-124 Construction Details and Specifications                             3

CONST-170Fundamentals of Building Inspection                                 3

CONST-298Independent Study                                                                0.5-3
RE-162 Real Estate Appraisal I                                                                   3
RE-201 Advanced Real Estate Studies                                                     0.5-4

Horticulture
HORT-110 Introduction to Horticulture and Plant Science                  3
HORT-179 Arboriculture                                                                             3
HORT-180 Introduction to Landscape Architecture                               3
HORT-185 Site Analysis                                                                               1.5
HORT-298 Independent Study                                                                    0.5-3

Total minimum required units                                                                 12

A

The only other drone technology program listed in COCI is at Palomar College in San Diego County. DVC has been participating in the drone discussions lead by SRJC and collaborating with LMC in investigating the needs and applications in the East Bay. This program is a result of that collaborative work.