Unmanned aircraft system test site to host public meeting to discuss progress
Editor's note: Watch today's 1 p.m. live webcast. Tweet questions to #askMAAPFAA throughout the event hosted by the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership.
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION, Aug. 14, 2015 – Officials with the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) will discuss innovation and opportunities in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) at a public meeting from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 24, at the Virginia Tech Research Center-Arlington, 900 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, Virginia.
The public meeting is the first in a series that will be hosted by each of the six national UAS test sites and UAS Center of Excellence designated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
MAAP Executive Director Rose Mooney of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech and MAAP associate directors with Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey will discuss progress in each state and provide information about test flights and key industries pursuing UAS applications.
Mooney will also address safety and privacy issues surrounding UAS integration.
A question-and-answer session will follow. Representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration will attend.
The FAA selected Virginia Tech in December, 2013, as one of six national test sites to conduct research to integrate unmanned aircraft into the nation’s airspace.
The meetings will aid both public and private sector stakeholders to better understand how the test sites and the FAA’s Center of Excellence are furthering UAS integration through research, development, and operational testing.
A live webcast of the meeting will be available on Aug. 24. It may also be accessed via the MAAP website.
The event is open to the public but seating is limited and preregistration is required by Thursday, Aug. 20. Please register on the MAAP registration page or by emailing or calling MAAP Program Manager Jennifer Tomlin at tomlinja@vt.edu or (540) 231-8890.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
