Topcon Positioning Ireland has announced the Dublin Institute of Technology has purchased a Sirius Pro drone in a groundbreaking move for education within the surveying profession in Ireland.

The Sirius Pro is a lightweight aeroplane style drone that captures accurate aerial mapping and is the first aircraft to be used by a third level college in this capacity. The drone will also provide the first example of third level Irish students given in depth UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) training to set them up for successful careers in the construction industry.

The handover of the new product, which took place at the new Grangegorman campus, was conducted by Mark Fagan, Business Director from Topcon and the DIT President, Brian Norton and Programme Chair of Geospatial Engineering, Dr Eugene McGovern.

UAV products are becoming increasingly popular in the construction industry and learning about how to best utilise them to increase workflows and efficiency is seen as an imperative for all currently working in the sector. As a result, teaching students of the construction industry about effectively managing the products is seen as a ground breaking move by both Topcon and the DIT.

The delivery of the drone will also see Topcon expertise being offered to the DIT, with the team offering tuition on how to use the drone at several stages across the academic year.

Dr Eugene McGovern, Programme Chair M.Sc. Geospatial Engineering at the Dublin Institute of Technology, said: “DIT has just taken delivery of a Sirius Pro UAV from Topcon Positioning Ireland. The Sirius Pro represents the state-of-the-art for fixed-wing UAV’s and is a very significant addition to the equipment available to our students. UAV’s are having a significant impact in many disciplines, including the Geomatics/Geographic Science discipline area, and it is important that our students have exposure to this equipment for their project work and dissertations. The Sirius Pro will also support DIT research in a variety of applications across the surveying, engineering and environmental disciplines.”

Mark Fagan, Business Director, Topcon Positioning Ireland & N. Ireland, said: “Teaching the next generation of geopositioning and construction specialists about key product capabilities and benefits of UAV technology has been a key focus of ours for a long time. We’re delighted that DIT have chosen the Topcon Sirius Pro as their fixed wing UAV as the students now have access the best technology in the Irish market.

“We are committed to helping the next generation of our industry workforce and are excited to continue the great relationship we have with Eugene and all the team at DIT”.