Northland Community & Technical College to Host Drone Competition

Nov. 27—Northland Community & Technical College will host an aerial drone competition and open house to highlight the demand for careers in aviation.

The event will be held at the college's aerospace site adjacent to Thief River Falls' airport on Dec. 11. The open house portion of the event will begin at 10 a.m. that day, while the 2021-2022 REC Foundation Aerial Drone Competition will start at 9:30 a.m.

According to a release from Northland, it will be the first time such a competition has been held in northwest Minnesota. The REC Foundation is a nonprofit group dedicated to encouraging student interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. The competition will feature high school teams from across the region. Those teams will need to maneuver around obstacles and through gates, in order to score points.

"Northland wants to utilize this opportunity to spread awareness in the community about the many facets of the aerospace industry and the programs and services that Northland provides," reads a portion of the college's release. "Northland faculty, students and staff will be on hand to speak to the opportunities available in the aerospace industry."

According to the Northland, a national outlook on the industry has revealed the need for 192,000 qualified aircraft maintenance technicians between 2020 and 2039.

People who visit the open house will be able to engage in a number of hands-on activities, including metal riveting, drone flights, virtual reality experience and a paper airplane creation and flying contest. Attendees can see the inner-workings of an aircraft, and sit in the cockpit. Refreshments will be served at the event.

More information about the open house and drone competition can be found by contacting Kelly Jordet, communications coordinator at Northland, at 218-793-2428 or [email protected].

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