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36 csengineermag.com MAY 2019 operation over non-involved people has come as a result of the VA IPP. Production of small UAS is largely not in the United States. A few domestic companies are designing and producing drones, but the vast majority of the market share is with DJI and Parrot/senseFly, which are based in China and Switzerland, respectively. C+S: From a legislative/policy standpoint, what is the biggest problem the UAS industry must overcome? DB: I see two key legislative and policy issues that are equally impor- tant that the industry needs to overcome: – Patchwork legislation by localities. Some Counties and Cities across the United States have enacted laws/legislation that restricts hobby or commercial UAS flights. I believe federal preemption at some point will be tested and the outcome, good or bad, will make a very large impact on the industry. A positive result will help the industry grow and a negative one could be disastrous for the UAS industry. – The speed of innovation and federal regulations are not in sync. Technological innovation and capabilities often outpace legislation. The FAA was mandated to integrate UAS into the National Airspace System, but I would not say the mandate came with adequate funding. Before the automated Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) was put in place we were seeing requests for restricted airspace authorizations take six months or more. Things are better now, but the challenge is real. C+S: What will drone technology ultimately replace? DB: I do not see a drone replacing anything. Sometimes it's the best option and sometimes it's not. In the civil engineering community you still need the knowledge and experience to make decisions on the data the drone collects. There is potential for cost savings, efficiency and safety gains with a drone, but we still need all the tools available and the domain specific knowledge to do the job right. C+S: If you were talking to a group of aspiring engineers, what would you tell them about the opportunities available within the UAS indus- try? DB: The most important message I want to convey to aspiring engi- neers is that the drone is not the job. Your engineering specialty is your career. Drones are very exciting and have the potential to become a critical tool for the engineering community. The unmanned system is a tool in the toolbox which sometimes is the best tool for the job. Sometimes it's not. Domain expertise is needed to make sense of the data the drone collects. The knowledge and experience the engineer possesses is what makes the drone most useful. It also does not replace ground truth. Oftentimes you will need to validate or verify what you have observed with the drone. RICHARD MASSEY is managing editor of Zweig Group publications. He can be reached at rmassey@zweiggroup.com.

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