Aug. 14--SPRINGFIELD -- The new Springfield-based office that will act as the official hub of unmanned aerial systems testing in Ohio and Indiana has named its first director.
Dick Honneywell, a retired Air Force Reserve colonel, will lead the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center and Test Complex at Springfield's Nextedge Applied Research and Technology Park, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced this week.
Honneywell, who most recently served as vice president of aerospace at the Dayton Development Coalition, will oversee the center that's vying to become one of six national test centers for unmanned aircraft that the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to name later this year.
The FAA will use those six centers to study how best to integrate so-called drones into manned airspace.
An industry report earlier this year predicted that Ohio stands to gain more than 2,700 new jobs by 2025 in the blossoming UAS industry. Drones also are expected to one day play a big role in precision agriculture.
The Ohio Department of Transportation on July 1 began leasing 2,060 square feet of office space for the center at Nextedge, located along U.S. 40 just east of Springfield. The two-year lease will cost a total of $70,000.
It's hoped the center led by Honneywell will act as a magnet for new federal, military and commercial research and testing of UAS.
"Dick brings a tremendous combination of technical and management expertise, as well as a broad knowledge of aerospace systems from his work in the Air Force and private sector," Kasich said in a statement.
Ohio and Indiana have pooled their efforts to become an FAA test site, with Ohio offering such research powerhouses as the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
Indiana, on the other hand, has valuable airspace, including the 55,265-acre Jefferson Proving Ground in the southeast part of the state, where from 1941 to 1995, the Army tested 25 million rounds of munitions.
Springfield was deemed a central location to manage the combined effort.
Copyright 2013 - Dayton Daily News, Ohio
