Insitu Supports Education by Becoming Founding Partner of AUVSI Foundation

BINGEN, Wash., June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Insitu Inc. announced today that it has become a founding partner of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation. As a founding partner, Insitu will contribute valuable resources to the foundation and its global initiatives to develop educational programs that attract and equip students for careers in robotics and the rapidly growing unmanned systems industry.

"We want to help keep students interested in math and science and the collaboration between the AUVSI Foundation and Insitu will create a natural synergy," said Insitu President and CEO Steve Morrow. "Our intent is to help fund K through 12 learning and to continue the early, hands-on learning approach through our internship program where students work alongside our engineers to develop real UAS products," said Morrow.

National statistics show that students often lose interest in math and science by the fifth grade, which is around the time curriculum moves from hands-on skill building to book learning.

"We're using unmanned systems to energize kids, inspiring them to make math and science a priority," said Insitu Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ryan Hartman. "We can only hope that after they participate in our internship program and complete college, they will come back to Insitu to begin their careers."

Insitu's internship program is an integral part of the company's culture. Year after year, the success of the program allows Insitu to provide hands-on learning to high school and college students from local communities and from across the United States. Giving back by participating in a community project is an essential part of the experience.

"We look forward to identifying areas where we can bridge the AUVSI Foundation initiatives with Insitu's internship program," said AUVSI Foundation Executive Director Daryl Davidson. "Our experience shows that once you expose students to this exciting field and then show them that they can do this type of activity as a lifelong career, they become hooked.  That's the beauty of our partnership with Insitu."

Insitu Inc., located in Bingen, Wash., is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company. Insitu designs, develops and manufactures UAS and provides associated services for commercial, civil and defense applications. With a small footprint and expeditionary focus for both land and sea operations, the company’s family of UAS solutions and global mission support serves the needs of worldwide customers. To date, these systems have accumulated 490,000 combat flight hours and 60,000 sorties. For more information, visit www.insitu.com.

SOURCE Insitu Inc.