National Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Student Competition Coming to Manitoba

Southport, Manitoba (November 22, 2011) – Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. and Unmanned Systems Canada are pleased to announce that the 2012 Student Unmanned Aerial Vehicle competition will be hosted at the Southport Airport, Manitoba from May 4-6 2012.

This national competition challenges university/college students from across Canada and various academic disciplines to design, build and fly their Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) with an objective to perform various tasks related to a real world emergency situation; Forest Fire Identification. The students benefit from a practical application of their theoretical designs as well as marketing their talents to prospective employment recruiters.

Unmanned Systems Canada has successfully organized this event bi-annually since 2007 and now anticipates holding this event annually. The 2012 event will be a first for Manitoba offering the unique terrain of the prairies to provide an ideal testing environment for UAVs. “Year after year, it is amazing to see the UAV systems that students come up with,” says Competition Chair and former student competitor, Charles Vidal. “The students create systems at a fraction of the cost as the industry but are able to produce similar capabilities. This shows that Canada is taking a leading role in robotic aviation that will continue as these students graduate and continue into industry.”

“Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. is thrilled to be hosting this important event which will undoubtedly showcase Canadian student expertise and experience in the planning and design execution of complex unmanned systems technologies.” says Stephen Maybury, Chief Executive Officer, Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. “We look forward to working with all of our supportive partners in delivering this event, facilitating future UAV sector growth and promoting UAV awareness in Manitoba; a province with a burgeoning aerospace industry driven by goals to develop a skilled workforce, to increase productivity, to pursue innovative technologies and to achieve continuous process improvements.”

Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. is a professional property management and development company that markets its commercial airport and properties to aerospace, aviation and commercial customers seeking highly cost competitive facilities and customer-driven property management services to implement and grow their business activities.