EdTech: How drones can sanitize for COVID

UC aerospace engineering professor Kelly Cohen explains how drones can help during pandemic

EdTech Magazine talked to University of Cincinnati professor Kelly Cohen about how drones theoretically could be deployed on college campuses to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to EdTech, studies are underway in Europe to see if unmanned aerial vehicles that do widescale crop spraying can instead be used to disinfect large indoor or outdoor areas for COVID-19 before people use them.

Kelly Cohen, interim department head of UC's Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, told EdTech that this is theoretically possible.

 “There are spaces where you have a lot of students congregating, maybe moving from one building to another, and that open space could be disinfected by drones,” he told EdTech.

In UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science, Cohen's students work on new drone applications and technology in UC's UAV Master Lab. Students work on topics such as robotics, intelligent systems and navigation.

UC engineering students have partnered with such diverse agencies as NASAthe Ohio Department of Transportation and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, among others. Their projects have tackled traffic monitoring, infrastructure inspections and disaster response and management.

Featured image at top: UC research associate Bryan Brown, left, and UC graduate Austin Wessels operate a drone in this 2018 photo. UC collaborated with the Ohio Department of Transportation on a traffic-management project. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Creative + Brand

Bryan Brown (beard), research associate in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS), and UC engineering student Austin Wessels demonstrate a drone used as part of CEAS's multi-year contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation to study traffic.

UC graduate Austin Wessels operates a drone in this 2018 photo. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Creative + Brand

Related Stories

1

UC engineer studying renewable energy sources

January 30, 2025

Katherine Schlaak came to University of Cincinnati as a student for her bachelor’s degree in physics, and stayed for her master’s degree and doctoral degree in materials science and engineering. Her PhD research in the Energy Conversion Materials lab is related to renewable energy.

2

Cincinnati Media: Big surprises for future UC Bearcats

January 30, 2025

Media from across Greater Cincinnati provided coverage of Decision Day 2025 activities at the University of Cincinnati. Five area high school students were surprised with admission, scholarships and a visit by the Bearcat Mascot, UC band and cheer team. UC Vice Provost Jack Miner welcomed the newest Bearcats to the university.

Debug Query for this