This week I had the pleasure of attending the Unmanned & Autonomous Systems (UAS) Consortium, which is sponsored by the North Texas Association of Manufacturers (NTAM) and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce's Center for Innovation (CFI).
Unmanned & Autonomous Systems (a/k/a drones) are getting more important and more common every day for military operations, hobbyists, news and entertainment, agriculture, and many other areas.
According to their website, which is available here, the UAS Consortium was formed "for the research, development, implementation and commercialization of new technologies to improve all aspects of the unmanned aircraft system industry, and the related education and training needed to ensure a competitive workforce."
North Texas is the perfect place to hold such a consortium because of the many aviation industry participants and defense contractors that call this area home. This week's consortium featured presentations by representatives of NTAM, who manages the UAS Consortium, Romeo Engineering, who designs and builds some amazing machinery for the defense industry and private industry, and Texas Tech University, where some important research on drones is being conducted.
The North Texas area is lucky to have so many leaders in the emerging UAS industry.
If you'd like to learn more about the use of drones in Texas, my partner, Scott Fredricks, recently published an article on the use of drones in Texas which is available here.
