麻豆传媒

Jim Johnson, who has worked as a carpenter in Binghamton鈥檚 facilities department for over 20 years, recently combined his love of building, radio-controlled flight, engineering, art and photography to launch what started as a hobby鈥攈e crafted four quad copters by hand using African mahogany and other choice hardwoods鈥攁nd has now been integrated into the way the University officially promotes itself.

Earlier this year, Johnson produced an aerial video of campus and showed it to Binghamton President Harvey Stenger, who immediately recognized its value.

Now, Johnson鈥檚 name is among the credits in several promotional videos for the University. 鈥淭he first time I saw Jim's work I was amazed at his ability to combine technology and art,鈥� said Stenger. 鈥淚n a short time he perfected his techniques and equipment and combined those achievements with an advanced artistic perception to create stunning and unique films of nature and the built world.鈥�

Johnson is an active member of a radio-controlled (RC) flying group and of the OpenPilot organization, an open-source group that designs and builds the control boards (the brains) for the quad copters he creates and flies. 鈥淚 actually built 16 quads last year,鈥� he says. 鈥淔our were for myself the others were for other members of our group.鈥�

Though drone technology has become extremely popular, Johnson says he doesn鈥檛 like to use 鈥渢he D word,鈥� due to its perception as being war-related. 鈥淚t's been an uphill battle to sway public opinion because of this one word,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e fly quad copters, tri copters and hex copters,鈥� Johnson notes, adding that he hopes those terms will replace the word 鈥渄rone鈥� in the years ahead.

鈥淛im and his incredible talents have enabled us to show off the Binghamton campus in a way few could,鈥� said Stenger.