Video: Mississippi State Selected For Drone Research

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Starkville, Miss. (WCBI) — The Federal Aviation Administration has selected Mississippi State-led research team to begin research on unmanned aerial systems, or UAS.

The team, which is named as the acronym ASSURE, consists of the the top UAS universities in 3 countries along with more than 100 private and government partners.

It’s a technological victory state leaders are celebrating.

“This is one of those historic days for the University” ,says MSU’s Vice President for Research and Economic Developemt Dr. David Shaw, “…to be able to be the lead institution for a new federal aviation administration center of excellence in an area that is blossoming as a technology is something the University has never been able to actually say we’ve accomplished before….”

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International says the industry could create more than 12-hundred jobs and an economic impact of more than 9-hundred million dollars for the state of Mississippi.

Executive director of Assure USAF Maj. Gen. (Ret.) James Poss thinks the unmanned drones will be a huge benefit for not only the nation but the world.

“…you can kind of think of them as big of an impact as cell phones have had on the way we communicate with each other”, says Poss.

Poss also says that one of ASSURE’s biggest partners, Amazon Prime, will greatly benefit from the use of the UAS. He says that with the unmanned drones, Amazon would be able to deliver packages under 5 lbs. to consumers in less than 30 minutes.

“[The drone’s]only limited by our imagination”, says Shaw, “I hear new ideas for using this technology every day. I continue to be amazed at the innovation that’s not only happening in the technology but with the applications of the technology.”

The F-A-A expects research to begin in September.