ASU partnership to advance research, training in unmanned aerial systems

Arizona State University has announced a partnership with CAE, the global leader in modeling, simulation and training, to advance research, education and training related to unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the academic, government and private sectors.

CAE has donated a CAE mission simulator for unmanned aerial systems, as well as licenses to simulation software from Presagis, CAE’s commercial-off-the-shelf software company. The simulator and software will facilitate student and faculty research, and test the application of unmanned systems in areas including border security, food security and water management. ASU will be the lead academic partner in joint domestic and international project pursuits. The collaborative partnership will help establish ASU as a UAS education research hub in Arizona, supporting the state of Arizona’s excellence in aviation, aerospace and defense.

The UAS industry has garnered growing public attention in recent years and is expected to have up to an $82 billion economic impact by 2025. Considering the limited history and national policies in the civilian UAS airspace, the U.S. Congress has ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to develop rules and regulations to help integrate non-military UAS's into the nation’s airspace by 2015. It is no surprise that the consumption of national airspace is changing, and the research produced by ASU and CAE will help put the two enterprises at the forefront of the burgeoning industry.

“With the combined resources of CAE, a global force in simulation and training, and ASU’s knowledge capital and subject matter expertise, the partnership will advance our students and faculty capabilities in global research,” said Anshuman Razdan, associate dean and professor of engineering and computing systems in the College of Technology and Innovation in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Razdan is the ASU principal investigator of the collaboration.

“Working with CAE gives our students an authentic experience with working on real-world research with a leader in the UAS industry,” Razdan said.

ASU aviation students will also have an opportunity to work hand-in-hand on real-world UAS research and training with industry experts from CAE and the university.

“We are excited about our new partnership with CAE,” said Paul Johnson, dean of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. “The faculty strive to prepare our students to work with and develop leading-edge technology, and this partnership with CAE provides a platform for doing that. In addition, decision support system development requires interdisciplinary collaboration, which is a strength of the Fulton Schools. We look forward to partnering with CAE and making significant contributions to the growing UAS industry, as well as to global challenges related to infrastructure and resource management.”

Gene Colabatistto, group president, defense and security at CAE, also praised the partnership.

“We are pleased to establish this relationship with Arizona State University to further advance our initiatives and capabilities related to the growing use of unmanned systems for commercial applications,” Colabatistto said. “CAE also has a number of global pursuits where governments are looking to leverage modeling and simulation for decision support, which can be applied to multiple domains to enhance analysis, training and operational decision-making. ASU can provide valuable subject matter expertise in developing comprehensive solutions for managing critical infrastructure and resources.”