Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Business Law
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • Coronavirus 2020
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Vote Now for Women in Leadership
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read the issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Nominate execs for 2021

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Home News Industries Technology By land, sea and air

By land, sea and air

Drones take center stage during pandemic

Published September 28, 2020 by Sydney Lake

A DroneUp team prepares to test launch drones carrying personal protective equipment in May in Lawrenceville. Photo courtesy DroneUp
A DroneUp team prepares to test launch drones carrying personal protective equipment in May in Lawrenceville. Photo courtesy DroneUp

Faced with challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, many Hampton Roads businesses and universities are looking to drones for help. Unmanned flight systems also are likely to drive economic development in the future.

In May, when the fear of dwindling personal protective equipment was still fresh, the Herndon-based Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) partnered with Virginia Beach-based DroneUp to test how drones could assist medical professionals in delivering test samples and PPE with no contact between humans.

With 103 test launches at the former Saint Paul’s College site in Lawrenceville, DroneUp was able to successfully deliver 100 packages to partner organizations at stations set up around the 55-acre campus.

The company then started working in the spring on a white paper to be sent to the White House with recommendations for best practices and a blueprint for how other organizations and agencies can deploy drones. And although DroneUp couldn’t share specifics of where the project may be headed, company spokesperson Amy Wiegand says that this is an area the company will continue to work on.

DroneUp also has continued to expand its flight services through its April acquisition of Glenview, Illinois-based AeroVista Innovations LLC, which provides drone training for private and public sectors now as the DroneUp Training Academy. The company also added Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability to its app, which allows drone pilots to get airspace authorization with the Federal Aviation Administration, Wiegand says.

A drone lifts a payload during a test launch on the former campus of Saint Paul’s College. Photo courtesy DroneUp
A drone lifts a payload during a test launch on the former campus of Saint Paul’s College. Photo courtesy DroneUp

“That continues to develop because technology grows and changes and evolves,” she says.

While DroneUp flexes its new capabilities, Old Dominion University’s Virginia Institute for Spaceflight & Autonomy (VISA) is hard at work to develop the Autonomy Research Institute for Societal Enhancement, or ARISE.

VISA, along with Hampton University and William & Mary, as well as REaKTOR, the National Institute of Aerospace and Longbow Group, plans to develop a center at Fort Monroe to look at integration of autonomous systems into public use across air, sea and land.

The group’s goals are economic development, workforce development and research, says VISA Executive Director Dave Bowles, and the organization has applied for funding through GO Virginia, the state-funded initiative to foster regional private-sector growth. Bowles says he expects to hear about the funding decision in late September.

“Hampton Roads is well-positioned to be a big player in [autonomous systems],” Bowles says. “We’ve got the port, the naval footprint and … I think autonomous systems can play a tremendous role in offshore wind for maintenance, inspection and supply. This center is a good complement to other assets the commonwealth has, and I think it could be a big [source] for bringing in new businesses into the area.”

Training professionals to use unmanned systems and bringing drone capabilities to the public will be key in the next phase of growth in the industry, he says.

The Virginia Open Data Cube, a collab-orative project involving NASA, VISA and ODU’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center (VMASC), combines data from satellites, drones and other sources and makes it available in an open-source format. It is already in use at higher education institutions and businesses in Hampton Roads to prepare for flooding associated with sea-level rise.

Having the information in one place will inform businesses and higher education institutions on how to better safeguard coastal resiliency, Bowles says.

Karen Jackson, chairman of the Unmanned Systems Association of Virginia, says that the industry is set to grow as a result of the pandemic, which has broadened the possibilities for deliveries. 

“We’ve seen an acceptance level that is headed in the right direction, and it’s headed in a way that will only grow,” says Jackson, who served as state secretary of technology under Gov. Terry McAuliffe and is the New College Institute’s interim executive director.

Unmanned systems can speed up delivery times for companies and organizations, she says. “Part of that is it does take away proximity. Geography becomes much more simple when you can fly [instead of] drive. … As people get more comfortable with [drones], and people learn how to use them responsibly … the use cases are becoming more and more compelling.”

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

Executive Insights

Virginia Business logo

Chips on the table

Will Norfolk and Portsmouth go all in for casinos?

Virginia Business logo

The big dig

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion incorporates new tunnel boring technology

Trending

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk