The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) has partnered with the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (RECF) to give students in the Aerial Drone Competition community access to USI's FAA Commercial Remote Pilot Exam Prep Course.

RECF's Aerial Drone Competition engages thousands of students in STEM, aviation, programming, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through hands-on drone competitions. The partnership gives those students a direct route from competition experience to preparation for FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot certification, the credential required to fly drones commercially in the U.S.

USI's exam prep course covers FAA regulations, airspace, weather, flight operations, and safety, built to prepare students for the Part 107 knowledge test. The self-paced course draws on more than a decade of USI's training content and includes online instruction and practice assessments.

"Students participating in drone competitions are already building technical and problem-solving skills that translate directly into the workforce," said Josh Olds, CEO of USI.

Part 107 certification opens career paths in public safety, construction, utilities, agriculture, infrastructure inspection, engineering, and media, among other sectors. USI and RECF said the partnership is meant to formalize the step from classroom and competition to industry-recognized credentials, part of a broader push by both organizations to build out the drone workforce pipeline.

The announcement lands amid a wider industry conversation about workforce readiness as commercial drone operations expand under Part 108 and BVLOS rulemaking, with training providers increasingly positioning STEM and competition programs as feeder pathways into certified pilot roles.