Project Rural Reach

UND Center for Innovation, the UND School of Aerospace Sciences, the UND Research Institute for Autonomous Systems (RIAS), and the UND Institute for Policy and Business Analytics are working in collaboration on an effort to enhance rural living using UAS technologies.

The outcomes of this effort will include a statewide economic impact study and commercialization strategy for the VANTIS network and its associated industry value chain, with a focus on rural connectivity, tribal nations, and coal-impacted communities in North Dakota

About Project Rural Research

Project Rural Reach focuses on three different use case tests:

Rural Delivery

Watch the video below to see how UAS is transforming the delivery of medical supplies in rural communities.

Testing UAS applications for supply chain logistics and expanding access to essential goods.

Key Highlights

• The Golden Hour: Reducing 60-minute drives to 20-minute flights.
• BVLOS Breakthroughs: How radar systems allow drones to fly 25+ miles safely.
• Real-World Impact: Vital medical supplies delivered when local stock runs out.
• Economic Relief: Reducing the "economic drain" on rural families seeking care.
• Distance is vast, but our solutions are faster.

Sustainable Power

UND and industry partners successfully demonstrated long‑endurance, fully electric UAS flights, showcasing how sustainable, North Dakota–made power systems can enable rural aerospace operations.

Learn more about this use case test

Key Highlights

• Electric Endurance: Fully electric UAS flights pushing beyond 50 miles on sustainable power.
• Energy‑Resilient Flight: North Dakota–made batteries proving long‑range aerial operations without fossil fuel dependence.
• Built for Rural Scale: Sustainable power solutions enabling autonomous missions in vast, remote environments.

Emergency/Disaster Response

Watch the video below to discover how UAS can serve as a “first responder in the sky.”

Deploying UAS for disaster response, real-time situational awareness, and resource mobilization in crisis scenarios.

Key Highlights

• Faster emergency response in remote areas
• Real-time aerial insights for first responders
• Thermal imaging to locate survivors
• Improved safety for crews and communities
• Reduced outages and infrastructure downtime

News

• UND Launches Project Rural Research to advance UAS applications in North Dakota
• Center for Innovation partners complete landmark medical drone delivery trial

Our goal is to further position North Dakota as a national leader while enabling us to know how to revolutionize rural living through the use of uncrewed aerial systems.Dr. Amy Whitney, Director of UND Center for Innovation

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