According to the Midland Daily News, Mid Michigan College will soon begin offering professional UAS users, as well as hobbyists, the opportunity to learn more about UAS and their impact on businesses.

Mid Michigan College has a Drone Training program, which is designed to address a number of areas, including teaching UAS-piloting skills, identifying potential uses and industry applications for the technology, and ultimately preparing students to pass the remote pilot knowledge test needed to obtain a Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA to legally operate the systems under the FAA's small UAS Rule.

Mid Michigan College adjunct faculty member Robert Giuliani will teach the courses.

“The drone field is just exploding -- it's becoming a multi-billionaire business,” Giuliani says via the Midland Daily News. “It's amazing what's happening in this field.”

The first session to be offered is called “Intro to Drones for Public Safety Personnel.” The 24-hour course is designed mostly for first-responders and other public safety personnel, Giuliani says, as the basics of UAS flight and safety will be covered, with additional information on how UAS can be used in the public safety field being provided.

“All these 911 and emergency organizations are buying drones knowing nothing about them and thinking, ‘Huh, maybe we should have investigated this a little bit more,’” Giuliani says.

“That's what the class partly does -- help (firefighters and police departments) decide what kind of drones they should get initially, and also what they're going to use it for.”

An 18-hour course called “Intro to Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Drones” could potentially begin next month. This course will teach the basics of UAS flight, as well as the laws and regulations surrounding it. Dates for the course will be announced on Mid Michigan College's website.

Both courses are expected to use a “training drone” to teach participants how to fly without using a GPS system.

Additionally, an all-day course focused on prepping participants for the FAA certification test will take place on April 6.

More information on the courses, as well as their dates, locations and costs, can be found here.