EdTech: How drones can sanitize for COVID
UC aerospace engineering professor Kelly Cohen explains how drones can help during pandemic
EdTech Magazine talked to University of Cincinnati professor Kelly Cohen about how drones theoretically could be deployed on college campuses to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to EdTech, studies are underway in Europe to see if unmanned aerial vehicles that do widescale crop spraying can instead be used to disinfect large indoor or outdoor areas for COVID-19 before people use them.
Kelly Cohen, interim department head of UC's Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, told EdTech that this is theoretically possible.
“There are spaces where you have a lot of students congregating, maybe moving from one building to another, and that open space could be disinfected by drones,” he told EdTech.
In UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science, Cohen's students work on new drone applications and technology in UC's UAV Master Lab. Students work on topics such as robotics, intelligent systems and navigation.
UC engineering students have partnered with such diverse agencies as NASA, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, among others. Their projects have tackled traffic monitoring, infrastructure inspections and disaster response and management.
Featured image at top: UC research associate Bryan Brown, left, and UC graduate Austin Wessels operate a drone in this 2018 photo. UC collaborated with the Ohio Department of Transportation on a traffic-management project. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Creative + Brand
UC graduate Austin Wessels operates a drone in this 2018 photo. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Creative + Brand
Related Stories
How aerospace is turning to trustworthy AI
January 6, 2026
UC College of Engineering and Applied Science graduate Lynn Pickering talks to the Ohio Federal Research Network about her research into artificial intelligence and the future of AI in aerospace engineering.
UC's art collection on display at the Contemporary Arts Center
January 5, 2026
University of Cincinnati leaders joined WVXU's Cincinnati Edition to talk about the university’s 200-year-old art collection, a new exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center and the release of a companion book exploring the collection’s role in education and public engagement.
UC faculty and staff among Rising Star leadership honorees
January 5, 2026
Two UC faculty and staff members are among this year's Rising Star leadership program sponsored by YWCA Greater Cincinnati. Kelli Beecher, assistant professor in the UC College of Nursing, and Brittany Bibb, assistant director of programs and operations in the UC Division of Student Affairs, are among the emerging leaders of 2026. They were featured in the publication Movers & Makers.