Nexus

The figure above is a broad, but accurate description of how UAS interacts in both the civilian world and military world. The blue circle (representing all different types of UAS) starts off with uses in both aspects (civilian and military) with ethical/legal considerations below it. All three of these deal heavily with unmanned aerial systems, but unmanned aerial systems are mostly certainly not limited to these bubbles.
      To begin off with one market for unmanned systems we look at military uses. The military uses drones from surveying all the way to search and destroy. Some of the earliest drones used in various military's even included balloons. Presently the most widely known drone is the Predator drone. The predator was originally used to surveying then later on was modified to house two hellfire missiles on its wings. Technology developed in the military is generally kept secret for a certain number of years (depending on its severity) then released as public knowledge. This is why civilian application of UAS is connected with military technology, a lot of technology for UAS that civilians get is from military research.
      The legal and ethical side of drones has been a topic of discussion since drones have come out. Do they invade privacy? Should a drone be able to fly wherever it wants without consequence? Are drones safe? Some have been answered, some may never been answered. Another question that is highly debated is allowing the use of drones to perform precision strikes on high value targets over seas. The FAA caught on to some of the questions asked before the massive rise of drones in the past five years. The FAA figured someone with a drone, who does not possess the proper skill to own one, would cause an incident. Be it with manned aviation or simply ramming it into a car windshield, an incident causes lots of media attention. Something current drone operators fear. With media reporting on drone incidents, it causes negative stigma to be formed around drones. These are just a few questions that many people ask about drones. Some have been answered, some may never been answered. Another question that is highly debated is allowing the use of drones to perform precision strikes on high value targets over seas. A highly controversial debate that has yet to cease, one side argues the moral aspect of civilian casualties and misinformed strikes while the other side argues safety of troops and constant surveillance of high value targets.
     The yellow bubbles shows just a minuscule amount of uses for drones currently in the market. On the military side you have search and destroy, surveillance, and potentially search and rescue. While on the civilian market you have people using them from photography, videography, search and rescue, inspection, and surveillance. Some of these uses are both seen in military and civilian worlds. There are many other uses, hundreds of different uses for these machines. Drones are cost effective and reduce the potential for human error when capturing data or undergoing a mission. Generally the word drone has a negative stigma. This is only because of general misinformation to the public. There are plenty of uses for drones that work incredibly. Inspection of pipelines, power lines, power plants, and windmills help reduce cost with the added benefit of increasing worker safety. Drones today are used in some movies to help get that perfect shot in our favorite movies! Search and rescue drones can vary with sensor packages. Some have thermal, night vision, and infrared cameras with live feed to detect bodies in hard to see terrains. Even commercial level drones with a simple RGB cameras have been used in search and rescue missions.
     All of these uses are just examples of how drones can perform tasks in a more effective way than it was done before. Drone usage has been sky rocketing recently and most likely due to people seeing the massive benefits these systems offer.

Education
      I was raised in Greenfield, Indiana and went to high school at New Palestine High school. In high school I knew I wanted to pursue a career in some type of aviation field. Originally I wanted to be a professional pilot. After graduating from New Palestine I went to Purdue. My first semester at Purdue I was pursuing a degree in professional flight, although half way through the semester I decided professional flight wasn't for me. During that same semester I was part of the first class of unmanned aerial system (UAS). I took an interest in that class so I decided to pursue a degree in UAS. Going through college I really enjoyed taking all different types of aviation classes, some of which include advanced aircraft composites, aircraft engines, fixed wing and rotor assemblies, and basic aircraft sciences. All of these were part of a different curriculum called aeronautical engineering technology (AET). After taking AET classes I was even more interested in AET than I was UAS. So during my junior year I decided to commit to a dual major in UAS and AET.

Interests and Hobbies
     Taking such an interest in these two majors would point out an interest in aviation. I have really enjoyed most of my class with hands on work. Some of these classes include taking apart aircraft flight controls, building and testing small UAS, working with composite materials, and learning computer aided design.
     About two and half years ago I bought my first motorcycle, a Kawasaki Ninja 300. After learning how to ride for almost a year, I decided it was time to sell the starter bike and move up to my dream bike, a Triumph Daytona 675R. No matter what weather, you can almost guarantee I will be riding. Learning about AET has helped me perform lots of maintenance on both motorcycles that would have cost me hundreds of dollars to take to a shop. And I really enjoyed taking apart different parts of the motorcycle and seeing how it is all put back together in a functioning state. Aside from motorcycles, I really enjoy the outdoors. Camping, hunting, shooting sports, and hiking are all activities that I have been doing since I was in middle school.

Future Interests
     After graduating from Purdue I plan on landing a job working as a systems test engineer or systems design engineer. I took an interest in this type of job because our 209, 219, 309, 319 classes. We focused mainly on systems testing and design with some flying. I really enjoyed putting together a system then testing its limits, then finding a way to make it better than it was before.