ELIZABETH CITY – Elizabeth City State University has a tool not many schools have to combat the spread of COVID-19: Its own air force.
Situated just 2 miles from the largest U.S. Coast Guard air station in the country, ECSU has the only four-year aviation program in North Carolina. Last fall, the school also launched a four-year degree in Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or drones.1
With $1 million in federal aid distributed through the NC Policy Collaboratory at UNC-Chapel Hill,2 ECSU plans to expand the use of drones and its mobile unit to distribute testing supplies and personal protective equipment in the 21 rural counties it serves in Northeastern North Carolina, many of them among the state’s poorest.
“We’re going to use our drones to really provide some way of access to those who can’t get to the doctor or who don’t have the WiFi to speak with a doctor on the Internet,” Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon says in the accompanying video. “Or really going into those communities and helping provide the information to help minimize the spread of COVID-19.
“We can provide more help to our communities who may not have the accessibility as others do across the state.”
1 https://newsroom.ecsu.edu/ecsu-to-offer-bachelors-degree-in-drone-aviation/.
2https://www.northcarolina.edu/news/unc-board-of-governors-hmsi-committee-receives-6m-in-funding-to-fight-covid-19/.
Benjamin Forbes says
Awesome program.