Pictured are, from left, Anastasia Shew, Abigail Anderson, Aiden Galloway, and Daniel Peters at the sign while the group viewed lab tour and drone demonstration from UAS graduate assistant Amy Alrutz. (Submitted photo)

Southern Local High School aviation students visited Kent State University’s College of Engineering and Aeronautics at the main campus in Kent on Nov. 21, where they toured the Unmanned Aerial Systems (drone) department and some of the engineering and 3-D printing labs. They had plenty of hands-on learning opportunities in the Virtual Reality Lab with a full-motion flight simulator, VR drone simulators, and a VR spacewalk simulation, then they got to test their skills by flying drones on the university campus. Additionally, they viewed a demonstration of a drone that could be used by law enforcement with some of the students being “tracked” using thermal imaging. The Kent State UAS program has drones ranging from $30 to $75,000 in value and represents the latest UAS technology.