April 14, 2025 | Author: Miriam McNabb
Warren County Community College’s WarrenUAS drone program announced today that it has established a strategic partnership with Tactien Group, a global aviation consulting leader. This cooperation will integrate the top resources of both parties in the field of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and promote commercial and defense-level drone technology innovation and talent training through the deep integration of industry, academia and research.
Strong alliance: strategic collaboration between academia and industry
As the top unmanned aerial system education and research institution in the United States, WarrenUAS has more than 100 sets of advanced equipment worth more than $5 million, and maintains in-depth cooperation with famous schools such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. As a benchmark company in the field of aviation consulting, Tactien Group has led the deployment of 300-pound heavy-duty drone systems and has rich experience in key infrastructure fields such as energy and transportation.
“This collaboration is a great example of combining industry, academia and research,” said Dr. Will Austin, project leader at WarrenUAS. “Tactien’s expertise in large-scale UAV system integration will significantly enhance our teaching in high-demand areas such as precision agriculture and infrastructure inspection.”
Three highlights of the collaboration
- Expert resource injection
Ed Celiano, former executive director of the New Jersey UAV System Test Site, has joined the team to focus on the development of the National Airspace System (NAS) safe operation course. His experience in operating defense-grade complex systems will directly empower students. - Frontier technology transformation
Tactien founder Nate Ernst emphasized: “Our unique ‘strategic assembly’ model will help WarrenUAS teachers and students master practical skills such as UAV system integration and performance optimization, rather than being limited to a single manufacturer’s technology.” - Career development channel
The collaboration will open up new job paths with an annual salary of more than $100,000, covering areas such as drone delivery, environmental monitoring, and agricultural robots, and simultaneously launch a hardware accelerator program to cultivate start-ups.
Industry Impact and Future Outlook
This collaboration focuses on:
- Precision Agriculture: Setting up a special laboratory to develop innovative applications such as crop monitoring and variable rate spraying
- Infrastructure Operation and Maintenance: Developing intelligent inspection solutions for power grids and pipelines based on drones
- Defense Application: Deepening training programs in cooperation with the military to cultivate high-end technical talents
“Our graduates will have the ability to directly solve industry pain points,” Dr. Austin added, “The collaboration with Tactien ensures that WarrenUAS is always at the forefront of technological evolution.”
Tactien’s customer network covers utility giants, aviation service providers and UAS manufacturers, and this collaboration will also provide students with a green channel to enter the world’s top companies. The two parties plan to jointly release the “Large UAV System Integration White Paper” in the third quarter of 2025 to further establish industry standards.
