The New Jersey Innovation Institute and Maser Consulting Employ Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones) for Video Inspections of Hurricane Harvey Aftermath in Houston

NEWARK, NJ, September 8, 2017 – The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) Defense and Homeland Security Innovation Lab is working with Maser Consulting P.A. in conducting Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) video inspection of cell towers in Houston, Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Wireless communications provide a vital link in organizing rescue and recovery efforts in Houston, not only in civil command and control operations but in the heroic efforts of neighbors and concerned citizens who rescued thousands of residents from flooded homes.

Maintaining telecommunication infrastructure during and after hurricane Harvey is essential to the communications of emergency personnel and the peace of mind of people within the affected area. This is where UAVs (drones) are playing a key role. Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) crews perform initial site assessments to determine accessibility to cell towers so telecommunication companies can assign repair crews where the most impact can be made. They also perform advanced data acquisition to assess the condition of the cell tower site with up-to-date information to streamline repair activities. Once repairs have been made, the UAS crews can return to the site and access the quality of the repairs to give telecommunication clients confidence that their equipment is operating at an optimum level.

In damaged areas, UAS crews are committed to safety and can perform video inspection to assess, for example, whether or not the cell site is safely accessible by repair crews; if flooding would prevent them from reaching the towers; and/or the condition of ground-level generators that power the towers that may be submerged in floodwaters. These high-level video inspections are not only used to identify tower condition, but also to determine the necessity for more detailed follow-up inspections that may be required.

NJII’s Assistant Vice President, Government Affairs, Defense and Homeland Security, Retired General Bill Marshall states, “We have teamed with Maser Consulting to have two crews on site in Houston to conduct video inspections for several major telecommunications companies. We worked closely with Maser to secure the UAV pilots, create the inspection schedule and are actively monitoring progress, which so far has been excellent.”  Maser Consulting’s Chief Pilot and Director of UAV Services, Rob Dannenberg adds, “Our UAS flight teams are subject matter experts and are FAA Part 107 Certified. To ensure the comprehensive inspection of the towers, we utilize professional grade-UAS flight platforms combined with advanced sensors and data processing. This delivers timely, high-accuracy data to clients enabling them to make better informed decisions rapidly.”

NJII has been a leading force in the application of UAS and UAV technology and actively involved in establishing Cape May County Airport as a demonstration hub for flying UAVs. UAVs are being developed to perform a full range of duties in many different fields. These include agriculture, in transportation as surveillance and accident assessment, emergency first-responder operations and medical deliveries along with their current role in providing video inspection of communications infrastructure in flood ravaged Houston, Texas.

In the aftermath of the horrific events in southeastern Texas due to Hurricane Harvey, New Jersey Institute of Technology offers the following experts to answer questions on issues from planning to cleanup:

Michel Boufadel – Impact of flooding on coastal regions, oil spill cleanups.

Susan Bristol – Assimilation of natural systems with resilient design strategies and sustainable architecture.

Fadi Karaa – Flooding mitigation.

Bill Marshall – Impact of flooding on homeland security issues (e.g. logistics, critical infrastructure, defense systems); unmanned aerial systems and unmanned aerial vehicle (drones) video assessment of extent of flooding and flood damage to infrastructure.

Colette Santasieri – Impacts of flooded contaminated properties on communities; and impacts of flooding on civil infrastructure (roads, bridges, tunnels, transit systems, seaports).

John Schuring – A geological engineer who studies pile foundations, differential settlement and the slope stability of buildings.

Georgeen Theodore – Post-disaster planning and resilient design.

The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) is an NJIT corporation that applies the intellectual and technological resources of the state’s science and technology university to challenges identified by industry partners. Through its Innovation Labs (iLabs), NJII brings NJIT expertise to key economic sectors, including healthcare delivery systems, bio-pharmaceutical production, civil infrastructure, defense and homeland security, and financial services.