USM鈥檚 Dr. Jason McKenna Elected President of the Mississippi Chapter of AUVSI
Thu, 09/07/2023 - 09:40am | By: Gabriela Shinskie
Dr. Jason McKenna, The University of 51逗奶 Mississippi (USM) Director of Research,
Development, Testing, Evaluation and Training (RDT&E) at the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise, has been named president of the Mississippi Chapter of the Association for Uncrewed
Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). He is hoping to facilitate good communication,
advocacy and discover new ways to work together across the state.
鈥淚鈥檓 honored to be elected President of the MS Chapter of AUVSI. Hopefully my time at USM鈥檚 Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise has prepared me well to help promote our emerging maritime uncrewed systems partnerships and research鈥� said Dr. McKenna.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a big push nationally and internationally for growing the industry base and capability in fully autonomous maritime uncrewed systems. This is front and center to what we are doing on the Coast at USM. I think our chapter can help AUVSI and our partners get there more quickly by building upon the strong airborne and ground uncrewed expertise centered at Mississippi State and the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (EDRC),鈥� said Dr. McKenna.
鈥淭his chapter can leverage the entire expertise and talent within the state to get the word out. We have significant partnership within the government in the state. We can offer collaboration and a strong voice nationally with the chapter鈥檚 new officers coming from USM, MSU鈥檚 Raspet Flight Center, and ERDC鈥檚 Environmental Lab and USACE HQ PM for Aerial and Robotic Systems,鈥� said Dr. McKenna.
Dr. McKenna has been with USM since 2020 and specializes in the new blue economy and RDT&E and training in uncrewed systems and data science. He plans on leveraging the considerable talent in the state to showcase what Mississippi has to offer in trusted autonomy and uncrewed systems during AUVSI鈥檚 upcoming annual Xponential Conference in San Diego, California in April of 2024 that brings in global researchers and scientists to focus on autonomy and uncrewed systems.
鈥淚n we can show up as team Mississippi at Xponential in San Diego next year and showcase our workforce, students, industry know-how, and governmental partnerships I think the community of practice is going to take a hard look at us and maybe ask themselves why aren鈥檛 they doing more with them? Maybe we should open an office in MS and expand to the Gulf Coast. If we can create new high paying jobs and really promote cutting edge technology growth in the state it would be a fantastic outcome for the entire MS chapter.鈥�
The Mississippi chapter consists of many companies and educational institutions across the state including members with the federal government at Camp Shelby, Mississippi State University (MSU), the federal government at the US Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, the Navy and NOAA at Stennis Space Center, USM, and industry across the entire state.
Learn more about and their dedication to uncrewed systems internationally.