Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Systems
April 21, 2023
9:00 am PST
Virtual

The National Center of Autonomous Technologies (NCAT) will deliver a primer on autonomous systems, in multiple domains such as air, land and sea, and the critical role cybersecurity plays in their operations. With the speed of adoption of these systems, they are becoming ubiquitous in everyday life, for many of us. As we adopt more of this technology for uses such as package delivery, search and rescue, inspection and Advanced Air Mobility, safekeeping of the command-and-control links and the outputs produced becomes more and more of a priority.

Presenter: Zackary Nicklin

Unmanned Aerial Systems Program Manager, Northland Aerospace
Co-Principal Investigator, National Center for Autonomous Technologies (NCAT)
Northland Community and Technical College

Zackary Nicklin joined the US Army in 2003. He began his career as an Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Maintainer/Integrator and moved into the UAS space in 2005. His career has involved fielding and maintaining state-of-the-art intelligence collection and dissemination systems, both airborne and ground-based.

Zackary is currently the primary UAS instructor across Northland Community and Technical College’s UAS programs. He also serves as Co-Principal Investigator and Director of UAS for the National Center for Autonomous Technologies.  He holds numerous industry-recognized certifications along with three Associate degrees, a Bachelor’s in Applied Engineering and a Master’s in Unmanned Systems. Zack co-wrote the FAA ASSURE A.5 UAS Maintenance, Modification, Repair, Inspection, Training, and Certification Considerations recommendations, contributes to ASTM standards regarding UAS maintenance and UAS technician qualifications and acts as a Drone Pro for the FAA Safety Team.

NCyTE is funded by the National Science Foundation grant #2054724.