Insitu Inc. and the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks (UND) have announced additions to UND’s UAS degree program and research enterprise.

In conjunction with its 50th Anniversary of Aviation Education and Research, UND will integrate Insitu’s INEXA Control, TacitView and Catalina UAS software into its Aviation UAS curriculum in the fall of 2019.

UND, which currently uses Insitu’s ScanEagle UAS, will also make additions to its UAS fleet, adding Insitu’s ScanEagle3 UAS, which was launched on May 1 during Xponential 2018.

“We are excited to expand our long-term partnership history with UND, and we’re proud that UND will be the first university to become a ScanEagle3 customer,” says Mark Bauman, Vice President, Insitu Commercial.

“We are looking forward to the launch of the new INEXA-based curriculum and providing increased services and support for the UND UAS program as this solid foundation will serve both organizations very well, far into the future.”

Insitu’s Commercial Aviation Department will provide curriculum training and support services for UND. UND will provide flights that offer students the opportunities to be a UAS pilot, a mission commander, and a sensor operator during the flights.

UND instructors and staff will also be among the first to receive ScanEagle3 training. ScanEagle3 will be implemented into the fleet as it becomes available.

“The ITAR-free ScanEagle3 will help us to continue to be leaders in autonomous systems and enable our UAS program to be available to international students for the first time, as the students have not been able to participate in the UAS program due to ITAR concerns,” says Paul Snyder, Assistant Chair/Director, UAS Program, UND Aerospace.

UND, in conjunction with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, has several certificates of waiver or authorization (COA) that allow the ScanEagle UAS to be used across North Dakota.

Thanks to the COAs, UND and Insitu will have several opportunities for research and development, including but not limited to, developing detect and avoid and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) capabilities, improving data collection, and providing emergency response and research supporting Minnesota wildfire reaction.