{"id":97386,"date":"2018-11-02T20:34:06","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T00:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=97386"},"modified":"2018-11-02T13:13:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T17:13:27","slug":"first-ever-drone-racing-and-technology-event-to-take-place-at-state-fairgrounds-expo-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=97386","title":{"rendered":"First-ever drone racing and technology event to take place at State Fairgrounds\u2019 Expo Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"First-ever drone racing and technology event to take place at State Fairgrounds\u2019 Expo Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

Empire Drone Expo and Racing Competition features national-class racing, pilot training, STEM Education, drone films<\/em><\/p>\n

The new Exposition Center at the New York State Fairgrounds will host the Empire Drone Expo and Racing Competition, the first event of its kind in Upstate New York. The event highlights the state\u2019s investment of more than $40 million to support the development of unmanned aerial systems technology. It will feature New York State\u2019s largest micro-drone race, drone pilot training classes, STEM education programs, exhibits showcasing Upstate drone technology companies, award-winning international videos from the Great New York State Fair\u2019s Drone Film Festival, and more. The Expo and Racing Competition takes place Saturday, Nov. 17 and Sunday, Nov. 18 and complements CNY Rising, the region\u2019s comprehensive strategy to revitalize communities and grow the economy.<\/p>\n

Organized by Finger Lakes Drone Racing in cooperation with MultiGP, the\u00a0Empire Drone Expo<\/a>\u00a0is a collaboration among local organizations passionate about this new technology, including NUAIR Alliance, SkyOp, Camillus Indoor Aviators, NYS Drone Film Festival, CNY Drone Works, Dropcopter, Thales, Scherzi Systems LLC, Visit Syracuse, CenterState CEO and High Point Aerial. Admission to the event is free; racing competitors can pay entry fees\u00a0here<\/a>. MultiGPdescribes itself<\/a>\u00a0as the world\u2019s largest drone racing league and sanctions regional, national and international championships.<\/p>\n

Drone racing has become a popular sport, with top professional races being broadcast on national television. In the Fairgrounds\u2019 Expo Center, drones will race in groups through a series of obstacles that test a pilot\u2019s ability to turn the vehicle up, down, left and right at full speed while avoiding collisions. Empire Drone Expo attendees are also invited to learn how to fly a drone, take Part 107 commercial drone pilot certification classes and connect with local organizations in the industry. The event will have a special emphasis on STEM educational programs, offering hands-on workshops, seminars and lectures for all age groups. Flight simulators will also show attendees what it\u2019s like to fly an unmanned vehicle. A full schedule of events is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Drone technology is reshaping the world — assisting with everything from infrastructure inspection to plant pollination — and is creating a major new industry in Central New York. Governor Cuomo\u2019s investment of more than $40 million in the federally-designated drone technology development region between Syracuse and Rome has created jobs and attracted high-tech companies pursuing innovative ideas for using unmanned aerial technology.<\/p>\n

The Drone Expo will be the third event new to Upstate New York that will be held in the new Expo Center at the Fairgrounds since its opening during the Great New York State Fair in August. The 110,000 square foot building, which is the largest clear-span exhibit space north of New York City between Boston and Cleveland, is the most recent element of Governor Cuomo\u2019s $120 million plan to revitalize the nation\u2019s oldest state fair and fairgrounds. The building was constructed to attract major new events that previously would not consider Upstate New York in the past due to a lack of suitable space, providing a significant boost to the tourism industry and economic benefits to the entire region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to be working with the event organizers to bring this exciting new event to Upstate New York,” State Fair Director Troy Waffner\u00a0said. “With each new event, we\u2019re realizing the Governor\u2019s vision of an Expo Center that is a major driver of tourism and economic growth for the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Finger Lakes Drone Racing is excited for the unique opportunity to showcase many different facets of the drone community under one roof,” Drone Expo Coordinator Rich Bellamy\u00a0said. “There will truly be something for everyone – spectators, hobbyists, and professionals of all ages are sure to enjoy the wide array of interactive programming we’ve put together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First-ever drone racing and technology event to take place at State Fairgrounds\u2019 Expo Center Empire Drone Expo and Racing Competition features national-class racing, pilot training, STEM Education, drone films The new Exposition Center at the New York State Fairgrounds will host the Empire Drone Expo and Racing Competition, the first event of its kind in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23813,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-pkK","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/STEM.jpg?fit=300%2C186&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/73015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}