Monterey Bay Drone Automation and Robotics Technology (DART) held a symposium at the University Center of California State University’s Monterey Bay (CSUMB) campus, Nov 30 – Dec 1, 2022. Nearly 200 attendees enjoyed two days of compelling panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities. This year’s event was rich with collaboration, connections, and vision for a more robust and inclusive future.
Attendees heard from industry leaders, legislators, educators, and philanthropists on topics like:
Air taxis to logistics: what’s new in Advanced Air Mobility
“The Monterey Bay DART team is so grateful to our speakers, sponsors, and attendees,” said Joshua Metz, Executive Director and Co-founder of Monterey Bay DART. “These events are key to bringing the right people together to build the foundation for a stronger, more inclusive economy that leverages these budding technologies.”
Event videos and copies of presentations are available HERE.To sign up for the DART mailing list for occasional updates on drones, automation, and robotics technology, please click HERE.
Our Sponsors and Partners
https://montereybaydart.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AAA_1671-Donovan.jpg400600Metz Joshuahttps://montereybaydart.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DART_main_240x150.pngMetz Joshua2022-12-11 09:52:272022-12-19 17:19:442022 Monterey Bay DART Symposium Reaches New Heights
The fields of drones (Uncrewed Aerial Systems, UAS), automated systems, and robotics technologies (DART) have rapidly advanced over the past decade yielding new tools for environmental management and a broad array of other applications. These technological innovations are the result of both public and private research & development investment, and represent emerging markets for future workforce engagement. Over this same time period we have experienced increasingly frequent occurrences of climate driven catastrophes such as wildfire, drought and floods. As a result, there is real urgency to conceive of novel solutions to these environmental challenges. The hope is that drones and related technologies of remote sensing and spatial analysis can be part of those solutions, while providing value through generating future workforce opportunities.
Data collected by drones can be applied to a variety of environmental management fields including agriculture, environmental conservation, timber management, watershed management, climate change monitoring, disturbance mitigation, wildland management, fire management, and urban-wildland interface management among many others. Imagery data captured by drones for the purposes of land management and ecosystem monitoring can be used to evaluate ecosystem health under stress (Daly 2019), track and monitor wildlife (Prosekov et al 2020), pest outbreaks and disease spread (Filho et al 2020), ecosystem regeneration after disturbance, shifts in ecosystem after disturbance (Jiménez et al 2019), and monitor fires (Aydin et al 2019, Afghah et al 2019) among many other applications.
As drones become indispensable tools for land management, with the capabilities of drones to collect high frequency, high resolution data on a variety of spatial and temporal scales. We recognize that a critical priority for California is to have a workforce ready and able to support the innovation, manufacturing, and application of drones across a wide variety of industries.
With an eye towards informing workforce developers, educators and policy-makers focused on meeting the urgent need for a future focused forest management workforce, this paper provides:
an overview of drone-related investment trends and technology education opportunities in California;
an analysis of drone and forestry-related wage and hiring trends to paint a picture of recent market demand for drone and drone-related skills;
Calls out the imperative to design and build a modern workforce that takes advantage of the inherent strength of our States rich cultural diversity; and
contemplates a characterization of drone and forestry related career pathways.
Recognizing the inherent limitations of projecting emerging technology skill demands based on backward looking datasets, this paper also highlights innovative companies pushing the envelope towards next generation drone-based forest land management applications. Finally, we characterize the current state of diversity, equity and inclusion in the STEM workforce, and present the case for explicit action to ensure the emerging drone and forestry related hiring makes room for a workforce reflective of the rich, cultural diversity of the State of California.
https://montereybaydart.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Drone-Forestry-Career-Pathways-101121.png7671500Metz Joshuahttps://montereybaydart.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DART_main_240x150.pngMetz Joshua2021-10-14 10:43:022022-12-09 10:52:16UAS Workforce Opportunities in Forestry
Join Chris Bley and Tommy Hall of Island Conservation discussing the new Drone Innovation RFP currently out from Island Conservation to address invasive rats on remote islands.
Island Conservation is releasing a request for proposals for a heavy-lift drone with advanced capabilities to improve technology and methodology for the removal of invasive rats from the Ulong Island group in Palau’s Rock Island Southern Lagoon.
Contact: Emily Heber, Island Conservation, emily.heber@islandconservation.org, +1 (661) 332-1652 Resources: Drone Request For Proposals, Photos and B-roll, Interviews available
Released: July 1st, 2020 at 9am PST
Island Conservation announces their request for proposals (RFP) for a drones-for-conservation breakthrough. Island Conservation and our partners are seeking proposals for the development and operation of a heavy-lift drone and bait dispersal system with capabilities including lifting at least 25kg (55lbs), aerial mapping, and autonomous terrain-following for precision distribution. These advancements are necessary to remove damaging, invasive rats from the steep rocky terrain, complex coastline, and dense forests of the Ulong Islands, Palau, in early 2022. Additionally, similar advancements are already being pursued by come drone developers for their have potential applications for other markets such as agriculture and firefighting.
Innovation and increasing accessibility to technology are transforming our world and the ways in which we conserve and sustain it. As leaders in invasive species eradication, Island Conservation has spent the past 26 years developing, implementing, adapting, and refining the processes and methods necessary to protect endangered island wildlife and benefit island communities. Today, Island Conservation is partnering with Palau’s Koror State Government Department of Conservation and Law Enforcement (DCLE) to use drones to remove invasive rats from the Ulong Islands. Restoration of Ulong will protect the islands’ native terrestrial species and nearshore marine ecosystems, as well as the community’s cultural heritage, livelihoods, and food security.
Join Josh Metz in conversation with UC Agriculture & Natural Resources Vice President, Glenda Humiston, as they discuss the use of emerging DART tools in continual improvement of agriculture and natural resources research & management in California, upcoming 2020 Drone Camp, @UCANR @MontereyBayDART partnership, adaptation to COVID and other exciting topics.
https://montereybaydart.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Symposium2020-v11b.png6401920Metz Joshuahttps://montereybaydart.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DART_main_240x150.pngMetz Joshua2020-06-17 08:27:462020-07-08 22:07:33UC Ag & Natural Resources with Glenda Humiston
