Testing the waters

[Outta Control]

Lately there have been a strong interest into Thermography and not only from this forum. I've been working on a curriculum to introduce, educate, and prepare the mindset to be a qualified mid-level sUAS thermographer.

Topics will cover:
Thermal Science
Thermography best practices
Industry Application
Report Writing
Practical Exercises
Written Test

With this, I would like to know how valuable are these information and how much are you willing to pay.

 

[Dave Pitman]

It looks like ITC charges $1900 for a 4 day, in person clinic, correct? The syllabus looks like it covers aspects of Part 107 that those certified already won't need.

If you were going to offer an online curriculum, my input is this. The price ITC charges is not an option in $$ or time for someone in my position supplying diverse uas related services. It probably is okay for someone specializing in the field of inspection or thermography. Those folks would probably be willing to pay more for an online course. However, If you approached it from making money from scale and priced the course in a manner that would be considered "cheap" by the specialists, you would also most likely attract a much greater number of more general providers like me.

That's my first impression any way. For example. Some of the gear that is starting to become available because of uas surveying, like the Emlid Reach, is being described as "disruptive" by the old hardware manufacturers. They are selling gear at incredible markup because it is highly specialized. The "new guys" are disrupting this model and hoping to recoup investment by appealing to a much larger market. I would price your course so that ITC will consider it "disruptive".

 

[Outta Control]

Thanks for your input. Though the ITC actually cost $2K it gave a lot of theoretical and some practical applications. The program relies on folks like me to provide evidence and material for the course and yes the 107 part was, in some cases, a waste of time.

I believe that though online courses are the easy cheaper way of doing things nothing can replace an actual interaction between instructor and student.

 

[Dave Pitman]

I agree that the in-person clinic is better. But when you add travel, lodging and time away from earning, the actual cost of the course is much higher than the sticker price. You can target the % of those uas ops that are going to specialize, or you could target the more general operator. Maybe target both, I don't know. At the end of last year, there were 60,000 Part 107 cert holders. How many of those are going to specialize vs how many might be interested in adding to their knowledge set just because it's a good idea and a meaningful course is available.

Hopefully more guys will provide feedback.

 

[Outta Control]

Thanks for your input again DP. The big reason that a in-person class is important because of the calculation that the operator would need to do to make sure the captured image is good for reporting with minimal data errors.

I know it sound like a complex process and it may be for some but if one will be generating a professional report with accuracy and detail then the skills the student will gain is invaluable.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Understood. I'll be watching.

 

[ArrUnTuS]

Dave you've made exactly the same considerations I did when I looked at thermal certification. It's clear that specializing is what sets you apart from the rest, but everything can't be reached. Trying to reach all sectors in order to have a better chance of success in the business becomes difficult to achieve. I have decided to go little by little and with time, if things are going well, keep moving forward because I don't reach everything.