Thunderbird Drone Festival brings high-tech family fun and innovation to OSU-Tulsa

Monday, October 7, 2024

Media Contact: Aaron Campbell | OSU-Tulsa Communications Coordinator | 918-594-8046 | aaron.ross.campbell@okstate.edu

Hundreds flocked to Oklahoma State University-Tulsa this weekend to explore the latest in drone technology at 2024 Thunderbird Drone Festival. 

This is the fourth year for the annual festival and its first year in Tulsa. For OSU-Tulsa, which is part of OSU Polytech, welcoming the festival was a milestone in the mission to make Tulsa a hub for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) technology, which has been accelerated by the opening of the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE) LaunchPad Research Center last year.

“Nearly 20 years ago I moved back to Oklahoma to help make Oklahoma the UAS capital of the world,” said Dr. Jamey Jacob, OAIRE executive director. “Today we move one step closer.”

The festival kicked off Friday with a UAS/Advanced Air Mobility Symposium presented by OAIRE and the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics. The symposium featured a keynote address from former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, who highlighted Oklahoma's role in the future of defense-related mobility technology, and a student panel led by Jacob that put a spotlight on some of the state’s future aerospace innovators.

The public portion of the festival began Friday evening, with a drone film and photo festival followed by a 100-drone light show over the downtown skyline. Saturday’s events included first-person-view drone races, opportunities for participants to pilot a drone and educational opportunities in the form of workshops and keynote speakers.

“This festival is a chance for us to win at three things we do really well at OSU-Tulsa — aerospace, film and community,” said Dr. Johnny Stephens, interim president of OSU-Tulsa and president of the OSU Center for Health Sciences. “And we’re not just bringing OSU’s work in advanced aerial mobility here to Tulsa, but across all our campuses as we work to cement our university as a powerhouse in aerospace, research and education.”

Dreaming big led to the inception of the festival, according to festival director Chris Castor, who was inspired by the technology after making the short drone movie “Cardboard Cadet” with his then-5-year-old son.

“It’s truly an honor to be here in Tulsa on this beautiful campus,” Castor said.

“We’re here really because of a short film about imagination. All of us here are dreamers. We have people in this room dreaming about how to grow the aerospace industry in Oklahoma, dreaming about bringing UAS business to the state and ways to make our cities better places to live and work. We have people creating brand new technology that’s never been imagined. We’re all dreamers — and realities like this festival or this technology don’t exist without people dreaming about them and then asking ‘what can I do to make this come to life?’”

To learn more about OSU’s efforts to be the global leader in emerging aerospace technology, visit go.okstate.edu/aerospace.