Flying into the Future: Project Success Students Race Drones for Public Health

In June, a cohort of Project Success students participated in an innovative and interactive experience that combined public health education with hands-on drone training at the Project Success headquarters and at the University of Minnesota. The goal of this week-long course was to introduce these students to public health as a potential college major, career path, or curiosity. This course was designed as an interactive program for students to develop hands-on experience that would familiarize them with public health through the exciting technology of drones. It placed special emphasis on how drones are used in public health, especially with emergency preparedness and response.

The first four days of the course were hosted at Project Success. Each day students participated in 1.5 hours of public health curriculum delivered by public health practitioners, including faculty, staff, students, and alumni from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. These sessions provided a comprehensive overview of key public health concepts and issues.

In addition to the educational component, students spent 3 hours each day developing their drone piloting and racing skills. These hands-on trainings were led by a local drone racing company with experience running camps for students. The program culminated in a public health case study and an exciting drone race at the University of Minnesota, providing students with a memorable and practical application of their new skills.

Through this unique experience, students’ interests were sparked in public health while honing their drone flying skills. We are excited about the potential of these students to contribute to a more diverse and inclusive public health workforce in the future, and how they can play a role in keeping their own communities healthy.

“l learned how much people who are actually working within the public health space value their work. It was very interesting to hear everybody share about their experiences in public health work and hear about how drones have a very big, but new, hand in that.”

– Project Success Student Participant

– Project Success Student Participant

Thank you to community partners including University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Youth Drone Sports Championships, Beyond Walls Twin Cities, University of Minnesota UROC, Minnesota Department of Health, and Ruby H.N. Nguyen for your partnership on this programming!