Sinclair UAS Students Awarded Internships at Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Discovery Lab

Three students from Sinclair Community College’s Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) certificate program were selected to receive paid research internships at the AFRL Discovery Lab operated at the Tec^Edge Innovation and Collaboration Center, a partnership of AFRL and Wright Brothers Institute in Riverside.

The students, Ryan Palm, Alyssa Foland and Drew Tait, were each chosen through a competitive process for the research internship, which will allow them to receive college credit toward their UAS short-term technical certificate at Sinclair. Each Sinclair student will receive a part-time, paid research internship over the spring semester and will be eligible for full-time paid research internships over the summer term as well. The college and the Discovery Lab plan to create a sustainable internship program that will continue to provide this opportunity for Sinclair students in future terms.

For their project, the interns from Sinclair will be working on a research project to prototype a virtual command center utilizing geospatial information for precision agriculture and first responder mission planning and processes.

“The AFRL Discovery Lab resident at the Tec^Edge center is pleased to partner with Sinclair Community College in offering students Summer-at-the-Edge (SATE) research internship opportunities in UAS technologies,” said Dr. Rob Williams, research director for the AFRL Discovery Lab. “This partnership with Sinclair’s UAS Program is a major win-win opportunity to accelerate UAS related technology innovations of interest to the Air Force as well as develop a future STEM workforce in UAS that can benefit the region.”

As a national leader in UAS training and certification, Sinclair is uniquely positioned to provide the region’s defense industry and employers with a highly trained workforce specializing in the emerging UAS market.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to combine what I’ve learned about UAS at Sinclair and the resources available at AFRL Discovery Lab,” said Palm, one of the three Sinclair students receiving an internship. “Being able to intern with the AFRL Discovery Lab and use their facilities to develop technology in a way that solves real world issues will help prepare me for a career in the industry.”

The program brings together teams for varying lengths of time to collaborate on specific challenges. Teams working at the facility have included government personnel, university faculty and students, small businesses, and industry researchers.

Sinclair UAS Director Dr. Andrew Shepherd, currently serving as a faculty mentor for this term at the AFRL Discovery Lab, is responsible for overseeing and advising the three Sinclair interns and assigning grades at the end.

“We’re very excited to see our students in the UAS program at Sinclair getting these kinds of opportunities,” said Shepherd. “One of the major goals of this project is to establish resources that support an extended partnership between the AFRL’s program and Sinclair, and we hope that translates into more students in the UAS program developing their skills through hands-on experiences.”