Students looking for an aviation career now have four more options for earning a bachelor’s degree at Kansas State University in Salina, Kans. The school announced this week that starting in the fall, four of its certificate programs — in unmanned aircraft systems, avionics, airport management and air traffic control — will expand into full degree-granting programs. Avionics students get hands-on experience working on glass cockpit components. The UAS program uses several unmanned vehicles for training, and has worked with the Kansas National Guard to develop safety procedures for incorporating the vehicles into the National Airspace System.
Josh Brungardt, director of the K-State UAS program, said cooperation from the military has been an important factor in growing the program. “We have access to restricted airspace, just seven miles from here, that we can use for training,” Brungardt says. Student interns have worked as field operators for several UAS companies. K-State Salina operates a fleet of more than 40 training aircraft. The campus is sited adjacent to a 12,000-foot runway.
