Amazon Prime Air drones land in UK

screen-shot-2014-07-11-at-09-09-39-620x344 — Credit: Amazon

Cambridge, UK is most well-known for the university, bicycles and boating, but Amazon job listings suggest the city may also play host to drone delivery service testing in the future.

If you're interested in working on the online retail giant's delivery unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), dubbed Prime Air, then job postings listed last week by Amazon may be of interest.

In particular, Amazon is asking for Flight Operations Engineers, who will be responsible for testing drone technologies. The candidate must have at least five years of lead flight test experience, a degree in aeronautical engineering or a related field, and preferably experience in aircraft certification and aviation safety.

Amazon states:

"We're working on the future. If you are seeking an environment where you can drive innovation… If you want to apply state-of-the-art technologies to solve extreme-scale real world problems… If you want the satisfaction of providing visible benefit to end-users in an iterative fast paced environment… This is your opportunity."

In addition to the call for engineers, Amazon has also advertized for an Office manager, Site leader, Software developer and Scientist -- all of which are to be based in Cambridge, UK, and are expected to collaborate with Amazon's Seattle team, who are already testing drones for the delivery service.

Read this

Unusual and odd uses for 3D printing

Now that 3D printing has gone beyond the world of manufacturing, we're seeing a number of interesting and, frankly, odd uses of the technology.

Amazon Prime Air was announced in December last year . However, US regulations have stymied the project due to regulatory issues and the long process of applying for permission to test the UAVs.

However, the online retail giant isn't discouraged, and said at the time:

"One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today, resulting in enormous benefits for consumers across the nation."

In related news, the Associated Press reports that the US government is receiving near-daily reports of drones flying near airplanes, helicopters and airports without permission -- a sharp increase from several years ago. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires drone operators to apply for and receive permission before flying UAVs, but according to the news agency's sources, these rules are being ignored.

The FAA currently prohibits almost all commercial drone use, although this is being challenged and the US agency is expected to propose new drone regulations by the end of the year.

Read on: In the world of innovation