无人机驾驶员有望成香饽饽

    查尔斯•泰勒最初并没想过要成为一名无人机驾驶员。泰勒是一名狂热的遥控飞机爱好者，除了偶尔听到关于美国“捕食者”无人机执行军事行动的新闻外，他对于无人驾驶飞行器并没有太多了解。但在2012年8月，北达科他大学（University of North Dakota）毕业的泰勒却成为首批获得无人驾驶飞行器操作专业学士学位的毕业生。至2015年，民用领空将向无人飞行器开放，刺激了市场对飞行员的需求。当然，飞行员同时还要担任航空工程师、物理学家和软件程序员的角色。分析预测，未来十年，全球在无人飞行器上的开支将翻一番，达到114亿美元。潜在市场从执法到野生物管理，甚至可以用于石油与天然气勘探。教育界与商界正在鼎力合作，培养合格的毕业生。2009年，北达科他大学成为第一所提供该专业学位课程的大学。目前，该校约有120个专业。其中许多专业未来均可获得高薪酬就业机会：平均薪酬约为100，000美元。而通用动力公司（General Dynamics）、诺斯罗普•格鲁曼（Northrop Grumman）、波音（Boeing ）和洛克希德马丁公司（ Lockheed Martin）等航空业巨头都希望招聘接受过无人机驾驶培训的毕业生，替换退休的员工。

    泰勒和他的同学们便是这一努力的第一批成果。投出简历仅仅两周后，23岁的泰勒就得到了一份收入丰厚、前景广阔的职业，这可是当今经济形势下许多人梦寐以求的东西。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Charles Taylor did not set out to become a drone pilot. An avid fan of remote-controlled planes, Taylor didn't know much about unmanned aircraft outside the occasional news of military Predator strikes. But in August 2012 the University of North Dakota grad was among the first to receive a bachelor's degree tailored to unmanned-aircraft operations.Civilian airspace will be open to unmanned traffic in 2015, creating demand for pilots -- part aeronautical engineer, part physicist, part software coder. Analysts predict global spending on drones will double over the next decade, to $11.4 billion. Potential markets range from law enforcement to wildlife management and oil and gas discovery.Academia and business are co-creating programs to churn out qualified graduates. The University of North Dakota was the first to offer a specific degree program in 2009. It has roughly 120 majors today. Many are drawn by the prospect of high pay: Salaries average $100,000. And aerospace giants General Dynamics (GD), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Boeing (BA), and Lockheed Martin (LMT) are hoping to replace their retiring rank and file with drone-trained grads.

    Taylor and his peers are among the first products of this effort. Just two weeks after circulating his résumé, the 23-year-old had something many in this economy dream of: prospects for a lucrative career.