BINGEN, Wash., May. 4, 2016 – From homeland security, to maritime search and rescue, to precision agriculture, to environmental monitoring, UAS have the potential to revolutionize business and operations on land and at sea.
Which is why officials from Insitu, Mississippi State University (MSU) and Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) gathered today to announce that Insitu has opened a new facility at MSU in Starkville, Miss.
MSU’s sites and institutes offer compelling and relevant capabilities for the UAS industry. The university leads the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) 22-member Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) coalition, and recently became an FAA Center of Excellence. Insitu’s new facility will support engineering, software development and customer-support services, and will tap into MSU’s talent pool for its internship program. In addition, Insitu will provide access to its training program, which is based on rigorous FAA and military testing standards, and participate in curriculum development, steering committees, and academic mentorship, providing guidance for capstone design problems, coaching and evaluation. The 23-person office is located at the Ralph E. Powe Center for Innovative Technology within MSU’s Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park.
“We are investing time, talent and resources in Mississippi to develop industry-leading technology that can safely operate in the National Airspace System,” said Insitu President and CEO Ryan M. Hartman. “We believe there are many opportunities in Mississippi, and we look forward to collaborating with MSU in our efforts to positively impact the growing commercial UAS industry.”
“Insitu is the latest example of an innovative aerospace company choosing the state of Mississippi to grow its business,” said MSU Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Shaw. “Mississippi State has a long and successful history of working with these industry leaders in manned and unmanned flight, and we are looking forward to contributing to Insitu’s success.”
“The new Center of Excellence for UAS at MSU creates new careers for Mississippians by partnering with leading technology companies on UAS research initiatives,” said MDA Executive Director Glenn McCullough. “We salute the Insitu team for bringing new opportunities to the state and people of Starkville and thank our partners at MSU who were instrumental in making this partnership a reality.”
Insitu formalized its expansion plans with a ceremonial signing on Wednesday, May 4 at 11 a.m. in the Mississippi Development Authority booth at Xponential 2016 in New Orleans.
About Insitu:
Insitu is an industry-leading provider of information for superior decision making. With offices in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, the company creates and supports unmanned systems and software technology that deliver end-to-end solutions for collecting, processing and delivering superior information. We proudly serve the diverse needs of our global customers in the military, commercial and civil industries. To date, our systems have accumulated more than 880,000 flight hours and 109,000 sorties. Insitu is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company.
For more information, visit insitu.com. Follow us on Vimeo, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Mississippi State University:
The National Science Foundation ranks Mississippi State among the nation’s top 100 research universities. MSU’s research expenditures totaled $210 million in 2014, accounting for more than half of the total $410 million in research and development expenditures reported by all Mississippi institutions. MSU is a recognized leader in a number of disciplines, and well known for innovative partnerships, real-world impact and offering undergraduate and graduate students unique research opportunities. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.
About Mississippi Development Authority:
Mississippi Development Authority is the state’s lead economic and community development agency. MDA focuses on new business recruitment, existing business expansion, workforce training, and tourism promotion. For more information, visit MDA’s website at www.mississippi.org.
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