Program Information

Earn a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems AAS degree to be prepared for one of the many emerging jobs in agriculture, inspection, and emergency services in the United States.

Become qualified in:

• Building and repair of remotely piloted aircraft systems
• Flight by operator
• Programming for autonomous flight
• The use of the latest mapping and photogrammetry software (PIX4D)
• The use of the latest remote sensing packages such as thermal, multispectral, and LiDAR 3D

The interdisciplinary curriculum of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems degree includes the mechanics, electronics, and software programming of the RPAS. Students use MVCC’s FABLab to explore modeling and fabrication of designs created using AutoCAD and learn about Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and remote sensing capabilities used in RPAS operations.

See a semester-by-semester degree plan.

MVCC is a member of the NUAIR Alliance, a coalition of 200 entities working together to operate and oversee RPAS testing in three states. NUAIR Alliance is headquartered in Syracuse, and supports the RPAS test site (one of only seven in the country) at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, N.Y. Participation in this alliance keeps MVCC at the forefront of RPAS technology.

A National Science Foundation (NSF) award (DUE 1800926) is funding the work of MVCC, industry partners, and commercial end-users of RPAS to align specific job competencies for newly created one-semester micro-credentials to be offered beginning Fall 2019. Additionally, the NSF award funded the purchase of a Microdrone mdLiDAR1000 and sensors that enable agriculture and infrastructure inspection, plus a super computer for flight data processing.