Lions, and Tigers, and Drones, oh my!

If you want to know more about unmanned air vehicles, Dr. Randy Beard is the guy to talk to. Dr. Beard, a seasoned professor from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, spoke about unmanned vehicles and their implication for society during the Honors Faculty Social earlier this month.

The night began with a tour of the new engineering building by Dr. Spencer Magleby, Associate Dean and Director for the Honors Program. He gave Honors faculty and staff a tour of the beautiful new engineering building and even gave tour members a peek at the workspace down below. At the end of the tour, faculty and staff adjourned to dinner. Following dinner, Dr. Beard discussed his research, which focuses in autonomous systems, unmanned air vehicles, and multiple vehicle coordination and control.

Dr. Beard explained some of the science behind unmanned vehicles and even showed some bloopers from BYU’s research in unmanned air vehicles! The night ended with the opportunity to test-fly drones.

In 2004, Dr. Beard was awarded the BYU Young Scholar Award and in 2006 he was awarded the BYU Technology Transfer Award. In 2009 he was awarded the Karl G. Maeser Research and Creative Arts Award for excellence in research, and in 2017 he received the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Lecturer Award. We appreciate his illuminating remarks!