Salina, Kan., (October 21, 2009)-  For years, the terms "UAS" and "UAV" have been synonymous with "futuristic" and "science fiction," but in a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Laboratory on Oct. 21, K-State at Salina and its partners brought the future to the present.
 
The building is home to K-State's new and impressive Advanced Avionics Miniaturization Program which is dedicated to the miniaturization of unmanned systems and payloads by the rapid insertion of advanced miniaturization technology into unmanned aerial vehicle cameras, sensors and navigation systems.
 
Forecast International predicts that the worldwide market for UAVs may be worth more than $38 billion in the next decade.
 
"This is an important milestone in aviation history," said Tim Rogers, A.A.E., executive director of the Salina Airport Authority.  "I have been thoroughly impressed with the speed at which the program has grown from an idea into multiple grants and contracts with industry and government.  And from there, to a brick and mortar facility through which UAS growth and development continue."    
 
The close and unique partnerships surrounding the facility provide the perfect setting for that progress.
 
"K-State at Salina has received tremendous support from the Salina community for this program," said Dennis Kuhlman, dean of K-State at Salina. "We've also received support from the state and national government as well as from the industry. The UAS Program Office has brought a lot of entities together."
 
K-State received a Certificate of Authorization for an Aerosonde, a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle owned by Flint Hills Solutions, L.L.C, which was granted authorization to fly over the National Guard's Crisis City in June.  The nearby Smoky Hill Weapons Range is already being used regularly for testing of various unmanned aircraft and payloads, such as video cameras. 
 
The journey thus far was evident as a display of a circa WWII airborne camera, weighing more than 100 lbs and measuring more than a foot across dwarfed its present day counterpart.  The unmanned helicopter equipped with a matchbox-sized camera weighed a fraction of its grandfather's camera assembly alone.
 
Plans are further miniaturization and utilization.  Already in the past year the Air Force trained more unmanned aircraft pilots than manned, said Kurt Barnhart, K-State's aviation department head. 
 
"This facility is a testament to what can be achieved when universities, government, and industry partner together with a clear mission and set of objectives to do something great," said Barnhart
 
The UAS program office works in conjunction with the Salina Airport Authority, Great Plains Joint Training Center, Smoky Hill Weapons Range, City of Salina, Saline County and the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce for unprecedented success developing unmanned flight in the nation's airspace and training pilots and operators of unmanned aerial systems. It has worked with Flint Hills Solutions, of Augusta, Kan., as a private industry partner for a number of projects.