Construction careers taking flight: A new reality capture course at Arizona State University

As reality capture continues to grow, it’s essential that passion for the industry grows with it. As a professor at Arizona State’s School of Sustainable Engineering, Brian Volker is helping cultivate that passion in the next generation of construction professionals. After years of using drones for the capital projects he managed across ASU’s campus, Professor Volker began organizing a curriculum around a course focused specifically on drone technology. 

Last fall, Volker began teaching his first class: Drone Technology for The Built Environment. The course combines practical, hands-on experience with drones with an academic understanding of its changing regulatory environment. In it, students are assigned into teams that work together to fly missions around campus buildings, upload captured data, then use that data to make informed spatial decisions to be presented for their final project.  

 “DroneDeploy was great for collaboration because we could all log on and contribute together.” – Brian Volker

DroneDeploy’s reality capture platform formed the backbone of the students’ training, as its ease of use made working with captured drone data approachable. Mikhil Brahmbhatt’s team’s project involved documenting the construction of The McCain National Library, in which he and his teammates flew automated and manual flights, uploaded the captured data in DroneDeploy, then created a 3D model of the library to present to the class. 

“I realized I am able to deliver something useful for a company with the skill of flying a drone and processing data, I can see myself now as an asset to a company,”  –Mikhil Brahmbhatt

Like many of Volker’s students, Mikhil had never used a drone before taking the course. But as he progressed, he gained confidence in his skills to the point that he was able to land a job due in part to reality capture techniques learned in Professor Volker’s class. "When I was interviewing, they noticed I had my FAA Part 107 license. They were really happy about that because, at that point, they had a drone, but nobody on staff who could fly it.”

"I think it's probably one of the best classes I've taken at ASU." -Samriddha Pal

The buzz surrounding the course suggests there’s a growing curiosity about drone technology among construction management students. And Professor Volker believes his program is poised to meet this technological moment: “We're looking to scale. What we’re finding out now is that the need is even bigger. There is a lot of room to expand our drone program, and we are just at the beginning”. 

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