The five-day intensive unit, taken up by 22 Deakin students from Warrnambool, Burwood and Geelong, is teaching the basics in flying drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles) and, more importantly, how to use the data they collect. 

Course leader, Associate Professor of Marine Science Daniel Ierodiaconou, said photos and videos obtained from drones could provide valuable information in environmental science, agriculture, surveying, architecture,engineering and crime scene assessment.

“In our course, the flying aspect is a relatively minor component,” Mr Ierodiaconou said.

“We are unique in that our course focuses on how to convert high-quality images into information that can be used to support decision-making that benefits individuals and organisations.”

Deakin researchers have developed high resolution, three-dimensional models of shorelines to look at the impacts of coastal erosion but Mr Ierodiaconou said the technology could be applied to any landscape.

“For example, drones allow farmers to look at the condition of their crops and this course will help them to quantify that imagery and use the information for their benefit,” he said.

“It’s an exciting time in terms of technology at our disposal and UAVs are filling an important knowledge gap in landscape mapping. This course will give people hands-on experience in capturing and analysing that data.

“We're quite surprised about the diversity of students in this class - we've got students studying forensics, so they're very interested in the application of drones for reconstructing crime scenes. But we've also got some in architecture, engineering, marine science and more general sciences...so it's quite fun getting them all interacting.”

Mr Ierodiaconou said Deakin’s Warrnambool campus was the ideal choice for the course, with plenty of space for practical flying and a state-of-the-art geo-processing laboratory.