Take a Tour of UAS Test Site
The Patuxent Partnership is working with University of Maryland to host a tour of the University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site on Aug. 1, 2019, from 4 to 6:30 pm.
Learn how the business and technology world create access to world-class research, based on lessons learned from the Department of Defense’s investment in unmanned systems, and transition it to the civilian/commercial world.
Also, learn how people maximize the technology transfer from the speed of development in the commercial world for the federal government’s benefit.
Tour-goers can see one way of accomplishing these two goals with a visit to the University of Maryland UAS Test Site. Located at the St. Mary’s County Airport since 2015, the UMD UAS Test Site has targeted the transfer of knowledge and research capabilities, but also has been championing the discipline of manned aviation practices and procedures back to the unmanned test community.
A leading voice in this nascent civil/commercial UAS field, the test site has helped to forge relationships across a variety of stakeholders and capabilities. Tour-goers can see what the site has going on and where their futures might intersect with it.
UAS Test Site Project Manager Jim Alexander manages the cost, schedule, and performance of a wide variety of research projects from government, academia, and industry. He also serves as a UAS pilot, visual observer, and as aviation safety officer.
Mr. Alexander is a private pilot, a retired US Air Force navigator and staff officer, plus a former NASA project manager and flight engineer. One of the projects he was involved with was a three-year hurricane research mission that used the NASA Global Hawk UAS flown from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
He has a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s in engineering management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is also a certified project management professional.
The tour is free for members of The Patuxent Partnership and for $5 non-members.
RSVP is required. Contact Steve McKeown at [email protected] or 301-862-7033.
About The Patuxent Partnership
The Patuxent Partnership is a nonprofit member organization that fosters collaboration between government, industry, and academia to advance education through STEM-based initiatives; to advance technology through speaker programs, forums, and networking; to advance science and technology transfer through the exchange of ideas, information, and data related to technologies; and to increase workforce development through an array of initiatives.
To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and its programs, visit its Leader member page.
