The University of Alaska and Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that the University and State of Alaska will host the inaugural Global Autonomous Systems Conference (GASC) in Anchorage on Aug. 9-11, 2023. GASC is a three-day gathering that will include presentations from worldwide experts, conversations among policy and industry leaders, and opportunities to connect with visionaries in autonomous systems. The convening is sponsored by the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. ACUASI is one of the nation’s top drone research programs.

An unmanned aircraft owned and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks flew from the general aviation area of Fairbanks International Airport on Sunday, a historic feat in the effort to safely incorporate such aircraft into controlled airspace.

The flight was the first civilian large drone operation from an international airport in Alaska.

Residents of a remote Alaska coastal community will fly unmanned aircraft systems to support the Coast Guard’s oil spill response, fuel tank inspection, and search and rescue efforts.

The project, supported by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, will also provide data to enhance local decision-making on environmental and community issues.

Seven residents of Unalakleet, about 150 miles southeast across Norton Sound from Nome, are participating in the program. It’s run by Jessica Garron, an affiliated researcher with the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the UAF Geophysical Institute. Garron is a research assistant professor in UAF’s International Arctic Research Center.

The Federal Aviation Administration has named University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Catherine Cahill as one of 12 new members of its Drone Advisory Committee. Cahill is the director of the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, which is part of the UAF Geophysical Institute.

The DAC provides independent advice and recommendations for the safe and effective integration of drones in the national airspace system. The committee was originally formed in 2016 and is composed of 35 representatives from industry, academia, and state and local governments.

An Oregon test site for unmanned aircraft systems has joined the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex, also known as the Alaska UAS Test Site, operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Northwest UAV, based in McMinnville, Oregon, began inaugural flights in September 2019 as part of the Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex.

A team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks has completed the country’s first FAA-approved true beyond-visual-line-of-sight domestic flight of an unmanned aircraft system under the small UAS rule.

The flight is a step toward gaining more routine Federal Aviation Administration approval of commercial beyond-visual-line-of-sight unmanned aircraft flights. Such approval could allow organizations to use unmanned aircraft to monitor pipelines and other infrastructure in Alaska and the rest of the United States.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will join a new federal initiative aimed at shaping the future of drones in America.

The U.S. Department of Transportation selected UAF as one of 10 participants in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program.

Unmanned aircraft will soon be deployed to test the feasibility of delivering emergency medical supplies across Alaska as a part of a national initiative from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the White House.

The Federal Aviation Administration and DOT expanded the scope of the Alaska Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program’s efforts to include medical supply delivery in remote regions due to the life-saving potential of these operations across Alaska, with an initial test across Turnagain Arm fjord south of Anchorage.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks and its partners can now routinely fly unmanned aircraft out of their operators’ eyesight during commercial activities.

The UAF Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration and its collaborators recently received approval for the flights from the Federal Aviation Administration. The ACUASI team is the first in the state allowed to routinely fly beyond visual line of sight during commercial activities.