91看片网站

On a nearly cloudless morning, James McGarvey 鈥�24 and Nolan Hillhouse 鈥�23 stood outside of the聽Madden School of Business, their eyes directed toward the sky as they watched the lightweight drone they piloted sail over their heads. The duo was quite familiar with this particular Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) and so, as they carefully monitored its flight, they offered a running commentary.聽The drone they used, a DJI Mavic 2, can reach approximately 45 miles per hour and fly at a maximum height of 1,200 feet off of the ground, and has sensors that alert it when it comes within six feet of a stationary object. But most important, for the foreseeable future, it will be a fixture in their day-to-day lives.

McGarvey, an information systems and marketing major from Syracuse, N.Y., and Hillhouse, a business analytics and information systems major from Beacon, N.Y., are fascinated by how fast and far drones can travel, but they are even more intrigued by their potential to aid business and entire communities. That is the centerpiece of their work as聽McDevitt Information Systems Research Fellows. McGarvey is teaming up with聽MacIntosh Box and Pallet Co. to use drones to better monitor the company鈥檚 inventory so it can be as efficient, profitable and responsive to customers as possible. In addition, he and Hillhouse are collaborating with researchers聽at Upstate Medical University to investigate the use of drones to deliver drugs to the homes of patients, particularly to those who are recovering from Covid-19.

The pair is working under the direction of McDevitt Professor of Information Systems Martha Grabowski, Ph.D. While they are still in the early stages of their project, they are already聽honing their research skills and their capacity to listen to and collaborate with others. Perhaps even more important,聽they are discovering that, when it comes to conducting research, there is聽no one clear path. They are learning to become comfortable with ambiguity, to refine their approach, and to ask new questions. They are eager to see where their work will lead them.聽This fall they will travel to the聽聽in Fairbanks, where they will gain further experience operating drones, and the聽聽in Washington, D.C., where they will attend a Transportation Research Board/Marine Board meeting聽that will focus on new聽energy sources in transportation.

This is remarkable time for McGarvey and Hillhouse to be undertaking this work. According to NASA, UAS聽promise to change the face of commercial aviation dramatically, enabling whole new markets and potentially spurring economic growth and job creation. Administration officials estimate that there are approximately 50 companies, universities and government organizations developing more than 150 different unmanned aircraft designs. UAS are already being put to work in fields like firefighting, aerial photography, and land and crop surveying, and their use is expected to increase exponentially once they are fully integrated within the national airspace system. Among their advantages is the fact that they are less expensive and easier to deploy that manned aircraft.

When it comes to the future, McGarvey believes that the sky is the limit.

鈥淎s a McDevitt Information Systems Fellow, I鈥檝e learned how to be a better listener and how important research is,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e also learned to be appreciative of other people鈥檚 time and thoughts especially, Dr. Grabowski and Nolan, and I鈥檝e developed is the ability to work in a team and to communicate my thoughts and ideas to other people. I鈥檓 really proud that I鈥檝e acquired some very important skills that I鈥檒l use for the rest of my life.鈥�

This story is part of a series on the聽McDevitt Information Systems Research Program聽at Le 91看片网站.