Kansas State University and Kansas Wesleyan University are teaming up to give students an opportunity to minor in two programs that can leverage UAS to help those affected by disasters within their community. 



Through a partnership signed on July 11, students in Kansas State University’s Polytechnic Campus unmanned aircraft systems program will now have the chance to enroll in Kansas Wesleyan University’s emergency management program to receive a minor. In return, students enrolled in Kansas Wesleyan’s emergency management program can now receive a UAS minor through Kansas State Polytechnic’s UAS program. 



Students in both programs will have the opportunity to take what they’re learning about in their current curriculum and apply these skills to real-life emergency situations through their new minors. Students receiving a minor in UAS will learn how to properly use unmanned aircraft systems to supply resources in disaster locations, as well as how to analyze data collected by those systems. Students receiving a minor in emergency management will learn how to best assist emergency response teams during disasters, as well as how to properly operate unmanned aircraft in disaster areas. 



Kansas State Polytechnic associate professor and UAS program lead Michael Most is excited about this expansion of the curriculum and the impact it could have in the world. 



“Many of our UAS students have ambitions of applying their operations skills in a way that is socially beneficial, and offering the emergency management minor allows them to further their career aspirations while making a contribution to those in need,” says Most. “We also are proud to be able to share the multifaceted uses of UAS technology with KWU students to supplement and diversify their field of study by adding another tool to the emergency manager's toolbox.”



With Kansas being right in the middle of tornado alley, both of these minors will provide local rescue authorities with more skilled and highly trained individuals who can help with relief efforts. Students can begin entering in these new minor programs starting this fall. 

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