The Dawn of Autonomy podcast dedicated the month of April to the theme of “Education,” sponsored by USI, leaders in education and training for the drone pilots of today and the future. In this interview with Josh Olds, USI’s President, CEO, and co-founder, he discusses the paramount importance of UAS education centered on safety, its transformative impact on individual careers, business protection and overall industry advancement. Read on to learn more about USI's endeavors to educate, train, and certify professionals in the UAS industry and create a culture of leadership, innovation and safety-first aviators. 

Dawn Zoldi: Josh, tell us about yourself. 

Josh Olds: I came from the aviation world, with a degree in aviation, A&P mechanic certificate and pilot licenses. I entered the drone world in 2011, when I worked for Textron Systems and then continued on to fix and fly uncrewed aircraft (UA) anti-piracy missions in deployed environments overseas. After coming back to the U.S., I worked and taught at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I co-founded USI in 2014, starting in operations and have been leading the company for the past six years.  

Dawn Zoldi: What was your inspiration to create USI? 

Josh Olds: The remotely piloted helicopter flights I flew for oil and gas opened my eyes to how drone technology could apply to so many different industry sectors. We founded the company originally as a drone service provider, but quickly realized that a sustainable and successful drone industry would require education and safety. We could see the parallels between general aviation (GA) and the drone industry, such as human factors, crew risk management (CRM) and the need for safety management systems (SMS). At the same time, we noticed that the drone industry was a melting pot of a lot of different cultures, from aviators to DOD contractors, hobby pilots to technologists, many industry personnel did not have to go through the same level of rigorous training programs that Part 61 or Part 141 GA pilots did. Because all of these aircraft fly in the same airspace, we set out to provide the safety foundations for the UAS space, based on our aviation and UA experience. We organized around the three main pillars of organization, personnel and technology. We’ve been focused on these same pillars for the past 10 years. 

Dawn Zoldi: A large part of your inspiration for founding USI was to meld GA principles into the drone industry. How do you see drones fitting into the larger aviation community? 

Josh Olds: Drones are a part of the aviation community and are changing that community. I often compare what is happening now with drones to the introduction of the jet engine. Big advancements in aviation have occurred over the last 120 years. You can pinpoint the technologies during that time that really drove aviation forward. Drones are another one of those technologies, evolving aviation, reducing human error, and increasing return on investment (ROI) across many markets. 

Dawn Zoldi: How does USI help to integrate drones into the larger aviation community?  

Josh Olds: As a safety institute, we're focused on educating the drone workforce to mitigate liability to themselves, the organizations they work for and the greater aviation community. The drone workforce must align to the risk profiles that are taken on by their specific aircraft and technologies, both from a ground and air risk perspective, to successfully integrate with general aviation.  That’s what we teach. 

Dawn Zoldi: USI’s program has different tiers. Please explain USI’s primary program. 

Josh Olds: We all know that the first rung on the ladder is Part 107 training,  the basic requirement to fly for hire. Our primary program is the next step. It focuses on risk management and includes technology, maintenance skill sets, how to analyze the operational site through site surveys and more. We built this primary program for low risk and low complexity visual line of sight (VLOS) operations. We have four certifications inside of this primary track. We provide the standard skill sets needed across any industry cluster, such as agriculture, infrastructure, electric utilities or public safety. Every industry cluster in the United States is using drone technology. Our key skill sets, which tie back to ASTM and NIST standards, provide needed baseline skills for all students and industry alike. Educationally, we start this program as early as middle school, but primarily cater to high school and early college students. We're in all 50 states with this primary program today.  

Dawn Zoldi: What is the format of this primary program? 

Josh Olds:  The primary program is conducted inside of the classrooms today through a program we call “Train the Trainer.” As part of USI’s mission, we aim to empower and enable local Regional Workforce Development. We do that through “Train the Trainer'' programs where the instructor goes through the same certifications as the students, with an instructor add-on focused on the fundamentals of instruction. That also optionally includes Flight Training to become an instructor of record. Instructors need to evaluate more than just the psychomotor skills needed to fly safely, but also other critical skill sets such as checklist discipline, risk assessments, mission briefings and attitudes towards flight. We leverage simulation in the early courses because we want the student to first understand safe operations before they go outside and fly. Part 107, site survey and all of the ground components lead into what we call Safety Level Four, visual line of site flight operations, or “VSO Flight.” 
 
Dawn Zoldi: Tell us about the next level advanced program. 

Josh Olds: Whereas the primary program focuses on the generalized skill sets needed as part of any career field, the advanced track centers on the operational safety components tied to advanced operations. Advanced ops could involve aircraft over 20 pounds, high dollar aircraft and payloads, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), operations over people or just anywhere you have an increased amount of risk. This next level coursework dives into understanding the complexities of operating with advanced risk and deploying aircraft in a safe and responsible manner. This track also has four certifications. Advanced Level One addresses things like human factors, CRM. Level Two digs into the practical implementation of SMS. Level Three focuses on aircraft specific education and simulation of operations to provide understanding of the systems and redundancies on board an aircraft. Level four includes advanced flight training (using FAA waivers) akin to Part 141 pilot training. We deliver this advanced program at the collegiate level as part of their workforce or certificate programs, as a minor, or part of a two-year or four-year degree.  

Dawn Zoldi: How do you address increasingly autonomous drones? 

Josh Olds: While psycho-motor skills remain an important part of the overall program, across the board, we include other core competencies such as the ability to manage automation. The human component in the operation will remain paramount, even in autonomous operations, because a human operator might need to intervene. We focus on the human-machine interface, the ability to control multiple aircraft or manage one or several aircraft in emergency or abnormal situations.  We see the Pilot in Command as a critical liability component of the operation for years to come. 

Dawn Zoldi: USI also has a certification and badge system. How does this tie into the basic and advanced programs?
 
Josh Olds: Badges are essentially an earned digital credential that becomes part of one’s resume. The process includes a third-party proctored knowledge and skill set component. The credentials renew every two years, and we’ve streamlined this to make it user-friendly. A subsidiary of PSI, the same group that runs the FAA’s Part 107, proctors both initial and renewal testing for us. The knowledge assessment, which has 70 questions, can be done remotely or in person. Once an individual passes the knowledge assessment, they do the in-person flight portion with their certified USI Flight Instructor, or USI Instructors come to them, or alternatively, at USI’s training location in Panama City, FL.  When an individual successfully completes these requirements, they receive a digital credential that represents that they have met the requirements of the specific learning objectives for a particular program. Since 2015, in specific regions of the country, funding at the state and federal level exists for students and adult learners to receive USI Safety Certifications free of charge or at a drastically reduced rate. 

Dawn Zoldi: Besides these academic programs, you also have specific programs for businesses. Tell us about those.
 
Josh Olds: USI has two verticals: commercial and academic. The certifications we offer inside the corporate world are identical to what we offer in education, so there’s transferability and relevancy. We also have “Train the Trainer” on the corporate side. We license the curriculum and training programs so a company’s instructors can be certified through USI and deliver standardized programs internally. Corporate students also have to validate their knowledge through the third party proctored certification process to obtain credentials. 

Dawn Zoldi: How has your program changed over the past 10 years? 

Josh Olds: From a programmatic perspective, we've evolved to focus on workforce pathways. We help to show students what job pathways they can pursue. There are so many jobs available, both inside and outside of the drone industry. Not everyone needs to be a pilot. They can be a technician, a software engineer, do business development or marketing and the list goes on. If they want to become a drone pilot, we help them understand the risk profiles for the job they want to do. Over the last decade, as industry evolved every year, USI updated curriculum and competencies to keep up with industry demands on workforce.  Since this industry is so new, the demands on the workforce have evolved at the pace of technology.  This will slow in years to come but maintaining relevance and transferability is one of the primary reasons education and commercial companies are seeking out USI programs today.   

Dawn Zoldi: Does USI assist students in obtaining some of these careers? 

Josh Olds: We announced our Advanced Pathway Program last summer with Zipline’s package delivery company under Part 135. If a student completes the advanced track of certifications, at the secondary level or post-secondary level, they can receive an interview with Zipline.  Zipline is on the leading edge of package delivery and looking for high caliber talent to fill the workforce gap and reduce the amount of required on-the-job-training. So far, that partnership has been going great. Zipline offers regional opportunities in Dallas Fort Worth, Arkansas, Utah and plans to continue expanding. As they scale, we can offer students all over the country the opportunity to fill roles for Zipline. 

Dawn Zoldi: You just announced another pipeline partnership with Sustainable Skylines. Tell us about that. 

Josh Olds: Sustainable Skylines is an impressive organization, focused on drone banner towing, operating under a Part 91 waiver. The use case is incredibly unique. At any shoreline, where you see a plane towing a banner, now it could actually be a large drone pulling a banner down the beach. This is an example of a workforce pathway that requires USI’s advanced certifications as well as a private pilot license. It’s a high skill, high wage career and will scale. For high schools, we're going to be publishing visual observer (VO) roles, which will only require USI’s primary certifications. This will provide graduated high school students the chance to work as VOs on these operations. Pilot opportunities create a high wage career progression for these individuals. A lot of these partnerships are developing, which is exciting because this has always been USI’s vision from the start. 

Dawn Zoldi: We’ve been talking about your efforts in the U.S., but USI has expanded globally. Please discuss that. 

Josh Olds: Safety is global. We opened up a whole line of effort in Thailand, through Drone Vidya, a commercial Drone Academy in the country. Drone Vidya has become an extension of USI, with training programs inside Thailand and across Pacific Asia that provide the same certifications as in the States. We are actively seeking other similar partners around the globe to deploy programs built for scalability, based on “Train the Trainer,” to empower regional safety oriented workforce development with foundational standards-based knowledge and skills. 

Dawn Zoldi: Josh, do you have any concluding comments? 

Josh Olds:  I see drone technology akin to the jet engine in aviation. It’s going to revolutionize aviation and expand aerospace careers beyond just transportation and logistics, into every industry cluster that exists. To that end, we want to make sure we're driving aviation safety practices into every aerospace cluster because in the grand scheme of things, we will all fly in the national airspace and we want it to remain safe. That requires a level of professionalism made possible only through rigorous education and training. We've got an amazing team of individuals who provide this. They remain laser-focused on our mission to bolster drone industry professionalism through standardized education and career pathway opportunities. I appreciate the time! It’s always fun to talk about education - I love the topic.  

Please get in touch with USI at FlyUSI.org.  

Watch Josh Olds on the Dawn of Autonomy podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8AU2hQkooE