Instructors teaching New Mexico Tech’s Drone Assessment and Response Tactics (DART) course recently underwent their own training to deliver the new version of the course (overviewed in a previous article). This training involved walkthroughs of each module, all discussions, and all activities. As part of their training, the instructors were briefed on the new drone detection equipment to be installed at New Mexico Tech’s Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center, which will include a variety of sensors to expose participants to various technologies available to enhance detection and assessment of drone activity.
The DART course instructional team represents an exceptional depth and breadth of expertise in public safety UAS operations. Their combined experience includes more than a century of service in law enforcement, fire service, emergency response, military aviation, and homeland security; thousands of hours of drone and manned aircraft operations; extensive experience developing and managing public safety drone programs; and thousands of hours of instructor-led training for first responders.
Their expertise spans both current and emerging public safety technologies, including Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs, Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, autonomous drone docking systems, advanced photogrammetry, LiDAR, 3D mapping and modeling, RTK/PPK positioning, artificial intelligence-enabled analytics, and counter-UAS awareness and response concepts. This combination of operational experience, technical expertise, instructional capability, and leadership enables the team to effectively deliver comprehensive drone awareness and response tactics training.
DART Course Explosives Field Lab Images