T3 Alaska students help Minto’s community planning efforts with aerial photography skills
September 18, 2024
T3 Alaska team at the Global Autonomous Systems Conference: (L-R) Gabe Low, UAF T3 community engagement lead; Eliza Winfrey, Minto Elder and T3 Elder liaison; Samuel Atchak, Bethel T3 student; Natalia Ashton, Wrangell, T3 student; and Dayne Broderson, ACEP.
Teaching Through Technology summer program students helped the community of Minto with their unmanned aerial systems flying skills, which led to an invitation for the students to present their work at the Global Autonomous Systems Conference in Anchorage.
The community of Minto requested area maps due to three major challenges they are facing — a logjam blocking river navigation, an outdated community map and options to safely expand the landfill. The T3 drone strand students learned how to fly drones and acquired Federal Aviation Administration’s TRUST, or The Recreational UAS Safety Test, licenses. They then mapped the requested areas by flying drones with photo telemetry — an automated process used to collect data remotely. They developed interactive and printed maps, and later returned to Minto and presented their deliverables to the Minto Village Council.
Two of the T3 Alaska students, Samuel Atchak from Bethel and Natalia Ashton from Wrangell, gave a presentation of their work on a panel called “Tomorrow’s autonomous air mobility: Nurturing tomorrow’s drone workforce” at the conference.
This mapping effort has fostered deeper conversations about community energy planning and projects in Minto. It has also strengthened partnerships between UAF research and workforce development programs to create opportunities for meaningful engagements in community energy planning.
Support for this activity and partnership in Minto and attendance at the conference was provided by the Alaska Regional Collaboration for Technology Innovation and Commercialization program, an Office of Naval Research initiative.