Congratulations to Shane Blaney and Chris Newbill! They both passed their drone pilot exams, and are now officially certified drone pilots. With GIS Manager Kadeem Pratt being certified earlier this year, we now have three pilots in our GIS Department! This is very exciting for our department as a whole, as we will be able to perform a wider range of projects.
Chris Newbill is a Hopeworks Alum and full-time GIS Technician. Shane Blaney is a Hopeworks Alum and a Townsend Scholar, and is currently the GIS Drone Intern. Both showed great initiative and drive to be certified as drone pilots to be more knowledgeable and to prepare for “several future clients who are interested in our Drone capabilities.”
Chris says Shane “was very motivated to attain his license, and loves being involved in all of our drone work.” When asked about the importance of drones in GIS, Chris said, “Drones make it very efficient to get your own up-to-date data, without just having to use Google Maps.” Chris is most excited about the types of projects GIS will now be able to do including “landscaping projects where we wouldn’t have physical access, but we now will have 3D footage with our drone.”