Inside UAlbany’s Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex, Dreven Sesay and his classmates are weighting the risks and benefits of using manned drones versus artificial intelligence (AI).

“Unlike an AI, which if they make a mistake, it’s entirely of the AI. All of the AI is discredited, and we no longer have that,” Sesay explains to the class.

It’s a discussion that requires the Troy senior to dig deep and use critical-thinking skills. While this may just be a class exercise, these are the kind of decisions faced by people in the field of emergency preparedness, cybersecurity and homeland security.

Sesay and his classmates are getting a taste of it.

“Putting it all together really makes it feel real,” Sesay said. “Once you combine all of these topics, you get an answer that I never really, truly completed before.”

This is how he starts his morning each day.

Sesay spends a few hours at New Visions: Emergency Preparedness, Informatics, Cyber and Homeland Security. Questar partnered with UAlbany to recently launch the program.

UAlbany professor Dr. Marcie Frazer teaches the inaugural course.

“So, this would be the psychological impact of pressing a button, so to speak,” Fraser said to the students.

Through this program, she says students can earn college credits and get crucial experience in the growing field. Over the next decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates careers in cybersecurity will grow 33%.

“They get to be exposed to things they wouldn’t naturally think about,” Fraser said.

The program also gets students out of the classroom and into places like UAlbany’s downtown campus, where the drone lab is located. The hands-on experience allows students to investigate how drones are utilized in the fields.

“We’re basically trying to get in the mind of a terrorist to see how they would use these drones to attack us, or how we can use these drones to survey against possible crimes that can happen,” Sesay said.

Prior to this school year, he was planning to major in computer science in college. After a few weeks into this program, Sesay is now leaning toward cybersecurity as his major.

“I like technology in general, so when I saw this, I was like, ‘Hey, this is a program that can help further my career and technology.’ I went for it,” Sesay said.

“They’re going to be able to have the experience if they were to go in the FBI or the CIA to get involved in tracking criminals and maintaining the security of the United States,” Fraser said.