SALISBURY, Md. (AP) \u2014 With elevations at sea level and open fields stretching from small towns to shoreline, the Delmarva Peninsula is defined by its paced population and rural environment.<\/p>\n
Elements like these keep much of the region laid-back, quiet and unimpeded.<\/p>\n
For one rising industry, that could prove a powerful asset.<\/p>\n
Set to break ground this fall, the Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport is bringing a Drone Center for Innovation to its campus. With potential for a foothold in the growing industry of unmanned vehicles, the excitement is palpable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity here for these three states to be the epicenter of autonomous systems testing,\u201d said Sentinel Robotic Solutions CEO Peter Bale. \u201cSalisbury is uniquely situated demographically for exit and entry corridors over the water and different areas of sparsely populated environment around the airfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bale\u2019s industry experience covers over 20 years.<\/p>\n
Thousands of miles from his days playing with remote-control planes as a child in Australia, Bale came to the United States in 2004, working for large companies like Boeing and others before starting his own ground-air-water robotic operations company on the Eastern Shore in 2012.<\/p>\n
With private clients, as well as working with the U.S. government, Sentinel Robotic Solutions has operated the runway at Virginia\u2019s NASA Wallops Flight Facility for about three years. The recent investment in the Salisbury center will soon stretch his unmanned systems consulting company farther north.<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t be more ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would an Australian stay here?\u201d Bale said jokingly, having been in contact with officials around the peninsula for years. \u201cIt\u2019s because I see the vision of what this area will be. Not can \u2014 will. It\u2019s just time, and we\u2019re very patient.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve waited 15 years for this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Job opportunities and innovation<\/p>\n
Sitting in her office tucked above the Salisbury\u2019s only terminal, notes and sheets of paper spread across her desk, airport manager Dawn Veatch\u2019s face lit up when she discussed the incoming drone center at her airfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe potential to bring in some manufacturers here is huge,\u201d Veatch said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had dialogue with four companies who have already been out to look at our facility and talk about options. It\u2019s really exciting to think that we could be a huge drone facility and operational point.\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager said her projects are on schedule, accepting a $100,000 grant from the state in August and awaiting FAA-approval within the fall on her airport master plan.<\/p>\n
The 8,000-square-foot facility\u2019s construction is slated to take shape by summer 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt creates jobs. It creates innovation,\u201d said the manager with over 30 years of federal aviation experience who took Wicomico County\u2019s top aviation administrator job in 2017. \u201cAnd every job that\u2019s created by an industry moving here has a domino effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bale said jobs with unmanned vehicles come in at a wide range of variety and skill levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not all four-year degree folks. Operators need maintenance folks, need folks to go and fly all these things. So there\u2019s a good mix,\u201d the CEO said. \u201cYou still need the Ph.D.s \u2026 and the high-end engineers to do all the development software, but from the operator base, there are a lot of good opportunities coming to this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The center will likely focus on commercial testing and certification, as well as potential training opportunities with local institutions \u2014 a build-it-and-they-will-come mindset, according to Weston Young, Wicomico County assistant director of administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we get that first facility, we are anticipating many will follow suit,\u201d Young said, citing potential partnerships with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Salisbury University and Wor-Wic Community College, as well as private companies that have reportedly shown interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is a huge deal because the jobs that would be generated for this sort of a facility would be very well-paying jobs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ruth Baker, dean of continuing education and workforce development at Wor-Wic, is eager to see the drone center up and running.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always driven by the needs of the industry,\u201d Baker said, having worked with Bale for over a decade. \u201cSo when it becomes clear that there\u2019s a facility, there\u2019s job opportunities, then what we typically do as an institution is meet with the industry leaders and start talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baker said she looks forward to seeing Salisbury on the cutting edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there is any question in anybody\u2019s mind that this is an area that\u2019s only going to grow,\u201d she said. \u201cWe definitely want to be part of that progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bale and John Robinson, the company\u2019s chief operating officer, also said they expect clients drawn to the center to bring economic impact with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re waiting for the next steps of the hangar, and this time next year will be a different picture for Salisbury,\u201d Bale added, \u201cwith the center up and running, customers coming and staying, building, renting cars, buying food, all the things that they bring when they come.\u201d<\/p>\n
He expects the region to grow as the industry does.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 60,000-foot vision for me is, how do we grow this area?\u201d Bale said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Future is unmanned\u201d<\/p>\n
Bale believes the country overall is at an intersection similar to the horse and buggy, and automotive trade \u2014 only with autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the big, bad, scary autonomous system. It\u2019s everywhere around you now,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the new car you buy, (it) wants to self park or wants to keep you on the road. . . . A lot of folks are scared of autonomous aircraft; most of your aircraft now that you\u2019re sitting in, flying from here to Florida, is 94-90% autonomous.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just the next step of evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
UPS said on Oct. 1 that it has won government approval to run a drone airline, a first for a U.S. company, and it plans to expand deliveries on hospital campuses and eventually other industries.<\/p>\n
Even before getting the airline designation, UPS Flight Forward, as the subsidiary is called, has operated over 1,000 flights at Wake Forest University\u2019s medical center in Raleigh, North Carolina, as reported by USA TODAY.<\/p>\n
Young echoed similar sentiment toward the future of the drone industry, though he expects people may have a difficult time accepting unmanned aircraft at first.<\/p>\n
Bale stressed the possibilities in existing industries on the Shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m talking about automation in chickenhouses for example,\u201d Bale said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just drones, there\u2019s a technology core here. Just look where they\u2019re predicting this industry hopefully in the next decade \u2014 it\u2019s a multibillion-dollar industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officials said Salisbury\u2019s center could see anything from air taxis to crop dusters or fire suppression, as they look to make the space a \u201ccommercially viable UAS operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robinson agreed the world of unmanned vehicles is on the cusp of major growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very positive industry to be in at this stage \u2014 this could be huge,\u201d said the former U.S. Navy captain. \u201c(Let\u2019s) see and build an industry base so our kids and their generations can have a place to stay local, work and grow, have high-paying, beneficial jobs here on the Shore.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Information from: The Daily Times of Salisbury, Md., http:\/\/www.delmarvanow.com\/<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SALISBURY, Md. (AP) \u2014 With elevations at sea level and open fields stretching from small towns to shoreline, the Delmarva Peninsula is defined by its paced population and rural environment.<\/p>\n
Elements like these keep much of the region laid-back, quiet and unimpeded.<\/p>\n
For one rising industry, that could prove a powerful asset.<\/p>\n
Set to break ground this fall, the Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional Airport is bringing a Drone Center for Innovation to its campus. With potential for a foothold in the growing industry of unmanned vehicles, the excitement is palpable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity here for these three states to be the epicenter of autonomous systems testing,\u201d said Sentinel Robotic Solutions CEO Peter Bale. \u201cSalisbury is uniquely situated demographically for exit and entry corridors over the water and different areas of sparsely populated environment around the airfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bale\u2019s industry experience covers over 20 years.<\/p>\n
Thousands of miles from his days playing with remote-con..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdpair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}