????查爾斯?泰勒最初并沒想過要成為一名無人機駕駛員。泰勒是一名狂熱的遙控飛機愛好者，除了偶爾聽到關于美國“捕食者”無人機執行軍事行動的新聞外，他對于無人駕駛飛行器并沒有太多了解。但在2012年8月，北達科他大學（University of North Dakota）畢業的泰勒卻成為首批獲得無人駕駛飛行器操作專業學士學位的畢業生。至2015年，民用領空將向無人飛行器開放，刺激了市場對飛行員的需求。當然，飛行員同時還要擔任航空工程師、物理學家和軟件程序員的角色。分析預測，未來十年，全球在無人飛行器上的開支將翻一番，達到114億美元。潛在市場從執法到野生物管理，甚至可以用于石油與天然氣勘探。教育界與商界正在鼎力合作，培養合格的畢業生。2009年，北達科他大學成為第一所提供該專業學位課程的大學。目前，該校約有120個專業。其中許多專業未來均可獲得高薪酬就業機會：平均薪酬約為100，000美元。而通用動力公司（General Dynamics）、諾斯羅普?格魯曼（Northrop Grumman）、波音（Boeing ）和洛克希德馬丁公司（ Lockheed Martin）等航空業巨頭都希望招聘接受過無人機駕駛培訓的畢業生，替換退休的員工。

????泰勒和他的同學們便是這一努力的第一批成果。投出簡歷僅僅兩周后，23歲的泰勒就得到了一份收入豐厚、前景廣闊的職業，這可是當今經濟形勢下許多人夢寐以求的東西。（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????Charles Taylor did not set out to become a drone pilot. An avid fan of remote-controlled planes, Taylor didn't know much about unmanned aircraft outside the occasional news of military Predator strikes. But in August 2012 the University of North Dakota grad was among the first to receive a bachelor's degree tailored to unmanned-aircraft operations.Civilian airspace will be open to unmanned traffic in 2015, creating demand for pilots -- part aeronautical engineer, part physicist, part software coder. Analysts predict global spending on drones will double over the next decade, to $11.4 billion. Potential markets range from law enforcement to wildlife management and oil and gas discovery.Academia and business are co-creating programs to churn out qualified graduates. The University of North Dakota was the first to offer a specific degree program in 2009. It has roughly 120 majors today. Many are drawn by the prospect of high pay: Salaries average $100,000. And aerospace giants General Dynamics (GD), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Boeing (BA), and Lockheed Martin (LMT) are hoping to replace their retiring rank and file with drone-trained grads.

????Taylor and his peers are among the first products of this effort. Just two weeks after circulating his résumé, the 23-year-old had something many in this economy dream of: prospects for a lucrative career.