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If the Brookhaven College of yesteryear were a person, it may itself be inspired by the growth and development the campus has undergone in the last few years.
Many of the changes came into play when the Dallas County Community College District received accreditation approval to become Dallas College in 2020, right as the COVID-19 pandemic forced online learning onto the educational scene.
Now, with a new campus president, three bachelor’s degrees offered and a wide range of educational options, Madeline Burillo-Hopkins, president of the Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, invited the community to meet her and tour the campus at the Dallas College Showcase on Wednesday, April 2.
Burillo-Hopkins had four goals for the event, she said: To reconnect the community with the campus, increase awareness of the educational opportunities and the many trade programs the college provides, provide tours and get community input. She said she wants to know what else the college can do to serve the local community.
The showcase provided three tours, which were just a snapshot of the programs available. One included the new technology lab with drones.
“These labs are some of the best labs I’ve ever seen,” Burillo-Hopkins said.
The faculty at the technology labs shared that enthusiasm with those touring.
Scott Spires, team leader, faculty and geospatial technology program coordinator, described the different tools and their capabilities. He said one person using the drones can do the same amount of work that used to take an entire crew a week.
One ground-penetrating radar device has been used to help locate possible remains at a Freedman’s Cemetery in Cleburne. The geospatial imaging technology detects anything underground using electrical impulses.
Spires said that students learning the technological skills taught in the program earn 20 percent more income per year than students without the skills.
“I’m trying to get a remote-controlled marine unit,” he said.
Michael Hill couldn’t contain his enthusiasm about Dallas College’s new drone program, as he’s the instructor. He is enthusiastic about the future of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), so much so that he said he encouraged his daughter to become a pilot before she graduated from high school – and she spends her summers providing drone services for real estate agents, earning more than would be possible at a fast-food job.
Walmart is delivering products using drones in 70 percent of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and Hill predicted, “With the World Cup, air taxis are the next thing that are coming here.”
Once they pass the exam to become certified, all drone pilots are FAA pilots, and most start their new careers with income at $90,000 per year, he said.
Dallas College offers two pathways – 16 weeks attending part-time or eight weeks full-time.
“It’s fun. There’s so much going on in the drone world,” he said.
According to Hill, during the first semester of the drone program, Dallas College had 105 students. He said he was told that this was the largest launch of any program at the college.
