Northrop Grumman has offered to be the chief sponsor for the 2012 Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) student competitions. Through these competitions, high school as well as college students globally can have the unique opportunity of designing, developing and operating unmanned systems for marine, land and air applications.
As part of this competition, the students can have practical experience on the operation of unmanned systems and can also learn about the specific application capability of these systems in hazardous or complex environments.
According to Northrop Grumman’s general manager and VP for unmanned systems, Janis Pamiljans, this initiative focuses on teaching the next generation of engineers about the value of unmanned systems and its implementation in research, exploration, and defense. With expertise in autonomous unmanned systems, Northrop Grumman has willingly accepted to sponsor the 2012 AUVSI student competitions.
The United Arab Emirates Innovation Challenge conducted in Abu Dhabi during April along with the Higher Colleges of Technologies had Northrop Grumman to be its lead sponsor. This competition comprised nine teams of students from six campuses. As part of the initiative, the student teams designed, constructed an unmanned aerial vehicle and also demonstrated its autonomous performance.
During the April UAE Innovation Challenge, the design engineers at Northrop Grumman inspired and assisted the student teams to work together creatively all through the process.
The AUVSI Foundation was developed to support AUVSI's educational programs such as student competitions. It is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: http://www.northropgrumman.com/