STEM I & II: UAS as a STEM Minority Outreach Learning Platform for K12 Students (A15_A11L.UAS.53)
Under the ASSURE UAS Center of Excellence, a team of two universities were tasked with providing two STEM Outreach approaches to the FAA that use UAS as the central learning platform. The targets of this outreach are minority or underserved students. The two Universities tasked with this UAS outreach were Tuskegee University which can reach out to a predominantly African American student population, and the New Mexico State University (NMSU) that can reach out to predominantly Hispanic and Native American student populations. The approach for all of the activities focused on STEM education using UAS as the central learning platform. The STEM topics included fundamental related aviation and programming concepts and included unique UAS related content. The ASSURE team conducted the outreach in two phases that included 1) UAS Roadshows for broad community outreach, and 2) UAS summer camps. Educators designed the UAS Roadshows for broad community engagement. There were three UAS Roadshow events held at both locations for a total of six roadshow events. With these events, the ASSURE team reached over 1,000 students by providing hands-on activities, aviation education, flight demonstrations, UAS displays, lectures, flight simulator time, student UAS flights with a trained pilot, and more. The UAS summer camps took advantage of the materials developed for the UAS Roadshows. The ASSURE team’s approach with all of the activities was to provide background knowledge, teach skills, and build upon those skills. The camps approaches and content varied by location based on resources and demographics. Students were started with aviation education and flight safety. The physics of flight lessons were transferrable into time flying fixed wind and rotary wing aircraft on the flight simulator. There was a focus on hands activities on at both locations. The Tuskegee “Camp Drop Zone” hosted 20 students for one week in an all day camp. NMSU’s “UAS Summer Camp” hosted 116 students in four camps that ran for two weeks each in half-day sessions.
TEAM:
FINAL REPORT | 
POC:
Henry M. Cathey, Jr.
Aerospace Division Director | UAS Flight Test Site Director
Physical Science Laboratory
New Mexico State University
Email: HCathey@psl.nmsu.edu
Phone: 575.646.9474