USI Develops STEM Education Outreach In Unmanned Aviation

The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) announced today that it has partnered with Dreams Soar, Inc. on a worldwide science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education outreach initiative.  The effort will assist Dreams Soar founder and pilot, Shaesta Waiz, as she travels around the world to promote the importance of STEM education, by offering a portion of USI’s award-winning STEM curriculum on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to underprivileged and disadvantaged young girls and women around the world.

Waiz, the first civilian female pilot from Afghanistan, seeks to empower the next generation in STEM education as she makes a historic global solo flight. Along the route, Waiz will team with inspiring women, and together they’ll host outreach events focused on careers in STEM fields. The mission of Dreams Soar, Inc. is to encourage young girls and women worldwide to believe in themselves and to allow their dreams to soar.

“The FAA anticipates the drone industry to add $82 billion to the U.S. economy and 100,000 U.S. jobs by 2026. UAS are used in a variety of industries for a diverse range of applications. Yet women are highly underrepresented in this field, putting them at a disadvantage in STEM careers,” commented Waiz.

“The Unmanned Safety Institute is honored to partner with Dreams Soar and proud to play a part in supporting Shaesta in her mission to empower young women to reach their full potential,” said Aaron Greenwald, President of USI.  “We are thankful for the opportunity to provide our award-winning education and training programs to women around the world and help them discover the amazing possibilities of unmanned aircraft and their technology.”

USI and Dreams Soar will offer a STEM curriculum package to disadvantaged women at no cost.  The program is aimed towards helping these women discover the power of unmanned flight and will generate the “aviation bug” by learning about topics such as:

• Unmanned applications
• Unmanned aviation career opportunities
• Aircraft robotics
• Data links
• Remote Sensing
• Remote Pilot Privileges & Limits
• Airspace Classification & Operating Requirements
• Effects of Weather on Small UAS
• Small Unmanned Aircraft Loading
• Emergency Procedures
• Crew Resource Management
• Radio Communication Procedures
• Determining Small UAS Performance
• Aeronautical Decision Making
• Airport Operations
• Maintenance & Preflight Inspection Procedures
• Aerodynamic Principles
• UAS Systems & Components
• Human Factors
• Professionalism
• Privacy & Ethics
• Flight Safety Best Practices
• Hazard Identification

USI’s STEM education program, now in its third year, has been tremendously successful in the State of Florida, achieving statewide articulation with the Department of Education and having grown to 95 high schools educating over 2,500 students nationwide. The program is rapidly expanding to new schools throughout the United States and even expanding on a global scale.

(Source: USI news release)

FMI: dreamssoar.org