Keep up with whats going on in the drone engineering field by reading publications such as Drones Monthly (https://www.dronesmonthly.com), Drones World (https://www.dronesworldmag.com), and DRONELIFE newsletter (https://dronelife.com).

If you know someone who owns a drone, ask if you can use it to learn how it operates. You can also buy your own small drone and study how it works. Better yet, try building your own basic drone. Ask your shop teacher for guidance and/or check out online tutorials for advice.

Get an internship or summer job with a company that has drone engineering services. This will give you the opportunity to work with people in the field and make connections that can be valuable for future employment. Get involved in a professional association for engineers and engineering students, such as the Technology Student Association (https://tsaweb.org). The TSA offers a Drone Challenge competition for high school students who must "design, build, assemble, document, and test fly an open-source unmanned aerial vehicle according to the stated annual theme/problem specifications." Participants also must create and present a documentation portfolio (which includes a photographic log, wiring schematics, and a description of the programming software that was utilized to design and build the drone), as well as participate in an interview (semifinalists only).

Participate in other competitions to hone your skills and meet others who share the same interests. Here are a few competitions to check out:

• The Drobots Company National Aerial Robotics League Drone Competition: https://drobotscompany.com/drone-stem-competition-grades-1-12-high-school-kids-teens
• Collegiate Drone Racing Association: https://cdra.net

Participate in information interviews and job-shadowing experiences with drone engineers to learn more about the field. Ask your school counselor and science or shop teacher for help setting up these experiences.

Drone engineers plan and design unmanned aircraft systems for various industries beyond the armed forces. They work for government agencies, construction companies, engineering firms, manufacturers, research groups, agriculture, computer science research groups, and more. They read blueprints, technical drawings, and schematics, and research and design machinery, equipment, and operating systems for unmanned aircraft. They work independently and also as part of a team, conferring frequently with other engineers and project members to gather technical information, discuss engineering designs, and troubleshoot any design and operational problems as they arise.

Drone engineers use computers and software programs to plan and design drones. They use analytical or scientific software, computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software, and graphics or photo imaging software. They develop methods of and protocols for testing and documenting drone systems and operations. The job also entails documenting the progress of their work, keeping project schedules, and creating budgets and reporting on costs. Drone engineers are increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (especially computer vision) into drones. "Drones equipped with artificial intelligence have the ability to collect and analyze large amounts of data swiftly, which is essential in applications like agricultural monitoring for crop health, environmental surveillance, and infrastructure inspection," according to visionplatformAI, a developer of AI products.

Their daily work activities involve reading technical documents so that work can be planned, designing drone systems or equipment according to project specifications, and evaluating the characteristics of the drones. Drone engineers are in frequent contact with their supervisors, team members (including drone engineering technicians), and clients, via e-mail, telephone, web video platforms, and in-person meetings, keeping everyone up to date on the status of the work and discussing and resolving any issues that present themselves.