UA Little Rock Hosts Drone Racing Demonstration for Area Schools
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock hosted a drone racing demonstration by Rocket Drones on April 3 to help local middle school and high school students learn more about operating drones as a future career option.
More than 70 students from Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas School of the Deaf, eSTEM High School, LISA Academy West Middle School, and Pulaski Academy attended the demonstration to get a taste of life as a drone pilot and racer.
Rocket Drone has held several demonstrations across the state in hopes of increasing interest in drone racing leagues and competitions. Rocket Drone employees said they are in early talks with state officials about establishing a statewide drone racing league in Arkansas.
Rocket Drones Founder Brandon Turk said drone racing is becoming an ever-popular sport in middle schools, high schools, and colleges in the United States, noting that some colleges already offer scholarships for students to participate in the leagues. In fact, the 2022 Collegiate Drone Racing Championship featured 11 participating colleges and universities, including Purdue, Georgia Tech, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The company is focused on career and technical education. Based in Pensacola, Florida, Rocket Drones is already in seven states across the country. The company has worked with local industry partners to design a curriculum that is geared toward providing students with the skills they need to enter the local workforce.
“We can’t get enough qualified pilots,” Turk said. “We are graduating some of the best pilots in the country.”
Rocket Drones also encourages students to develop ideas for new drones, since Turk said it’s likely three-fourths of the drone-related careers that will be available when current middle school students graduate college haven’t even been invented yet. Rocket Drones’ curriculum includes a section to help students with the design and implementation of promising drone ideas.
Some of the ideas that came from local Arkansas students during the UA Little Rock demonstration include:
- An aerial drone designed to play laser tag with people
- A ground drone for libraries that will scan the barcodes of books and return/locate books to the shelves
- A microscopic drone that will enter the human body to monitor for health conditions
“This is another aspect of technology that our kids are exposed to everyday, and this may lead to a career path,” said Keith Harris, associate director of STEM Career and Outreach Services at UA Little Rock. “Drones are becoming more prevalent in society, especially in the agricultural, transportation, real estate, and entertainment industries. Becoming a drone pilot and racer in school is an opportunity for future careers for these students.”
Kulsoom Shaikh, a mother of two sons who attended the event, said her boys (Yahya Younus, a 10th grader at Central High School, and Yaseem Younus, a 7th grader at LISA Academy West Middle School) were thrilled to see the drones in action.
“They just love drones,” Shaih said. “One of my sons is president of the robotics club at Central High, and he was very interested in coming to see this.”
