Senior project taking flight to serve community

Everything Nikolai Bardin-Siekawitch has learned about piloting a drone since 2021 will help launch his senior project. Not surprising, he is abuzz with excitement to use the flying technology any way he can.

The overall goal Bardin-Siekawitch wants to achieve in his high school project is to provide some sort of drone-related service in Wrangell "because we don't really have one here and I want to be the first."

That service could be anything from real estate photos to promotional videos or aerial surveys, he said.

"Drone mapping is becoming a huge thing, especially for surveying," he said. "You can survey and make a 3D model in, like, 20 minutes instead of days."

Bardin-Siekawitch has been involved with the Upward Bound and Teaching Through Technology Alliance programs for the past two years. In that time, he's learned not only how to fly the machines, but he's earned his commercial drone license, made promotional videos for a tourism company and the U.S. Forest Service and has helped with mapping Forest Service trails.

But it was his experience working with the borough that led him to his decision for the senior project.

"I've been working with the (borough) and I noticed they have a big need for aerial shots for projects that they're completing," he said. "I was wondering if anybody else needed that kind of footage."

The process of working on his project will also give Bardin-Siekawitch the opportunity to learn how to use video and photo-editing software that will be integral in the drone's image-capturing process.

"What I'll learn from this senior project is probably strategies to making promotional footage like photos and videos," he said. "I have this free editing software that a lot of people use, and I'll be able to learn how to color grade and all that, and edit the footage to make it a little more glamorous."

In order to save on digital file space, the drone Bardin-Siekawitch uses, the DJI Mini 2, can capture video and photo images with "washed-out" color. He can then add color back into the images using editing software.

Brian Ashton, who has served as a mentor and guide in teaching students in the Upward Bound and T3 Alliance programs how to fly drones, said it's been amazing to see the students come as far as they have. He pointed out that flying the drones is only one part of the overall focus, which is data collection, that Bardin-Siekawitch wants to provide.

Having witnessed Bardin-Siekawitch and his teammates in a professional setting, Ashton is confident in the senior's abilities, especially after a trip to Pats Lake to work with the Forest Service on a project.

"It was amazing," Ashton said. "When we went out with Tory (Houser of the Forest Service) with five or six kids including Nikolai, she explained what they needed to do, and they (the students) took off like a professional company. ... They're out there joking around, then it was time to work and they switched on."

Bardin-Siekawitch would prefer to create his business and make some money at it, but even if he doesn't, he will still have a body of work he can be proud of when he attends Boston University in the fall.

"I want to build up a portfolio here in Wrangell," he said. "That's another reason this senior project is going to be beneficial because, even if I don't get any money from my work here, it's going to be a community service anyway. I can build up a decent portfolio to show to people when I go to Boston and expand my business. I have a year of experience flying my drone, but I need more experience working with clients rather than just flying to be a little more credible."

Although he hasn't completely mapped out how he wants to land his project, Bardin-Siekawitch is confident it will take off.

"I've got a rough idea of where I want to go with this and multiple pathways just in case one or the other doesn't work out," he said. "I definitely will have some research to do this year, especially on learning the editing software, which I will probably do on Christmas break."