The Texas A&M System Board of Regents has approved the establishment of the Lone Star Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence and Innovation (LSUASC) as a joint Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) center.<\/p>\n
The LSUASC will function in the general areas of research, development, testing and training to support safely integrating unmanned aircraft into the national airspace and would be headquartered in Corpus Christi.
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\n\u201cThis approval by the Board of Regents strengthens the position of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in becoming one of six federal unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test sites,\u201d said Dr. Flavius Killebrew, President\/CEO of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. \u201cWith our research and development capabilities, we are poised to become a leader in what promises to be the future of aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n
A&M-Corpus Christi and TEES have collaborated with private-sector partner Camber Corporation to form a statewide team of research institutions and private-sector companies to produce a competitive proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that Texas be designated as a UAS test site. The statewide proposal led by A&M-Corpus Christi is supported by the governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
The state of Texas has a big stake in what happens with the FAA test site designation. The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) published an economic impact study in March projecting, once airspace is opened to UAVs, the economic impact on the state of Texas alone would be around $8 billion over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n
Locally, getting the FAA approval could mean nearly $50 million in infrastructure development for the Coastal Bend area. That funding is expected to generate more than 1,200 local jobs with an overall estimated economic impact of $260 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cTexas\u2019 unique geographic location leverages A&M-Corpus Christi and TEES into a diverse range of research and development fields,\u201d said Dr. Luis Cifuentes, Vice President of Research, Commercialization and Outreach. \u201cThis includes everything from homeland security and range management to marine monitoring, especially with regard to oil spills.\u201d<\/p>\n
A&M-Corpus Christi has an established UAS program, including extensive airspace authorized by the FAA for UAS operations. The University has established a UAS Command and Control Center at the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center that will manage the 11 Texas test ranges. University leaders say that even if the University isn\u2019t picked as an official FAA test site, research and development of UAS will continue in Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have airspace that everyone else wants, and we will partner with anybody who wants to test in it,\u201d said Cifuentes. \u201cI see this type of innovative research as the \u2018new age\u2019 for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.\u201d<\/p>\n