Drones, more accurately referred to in a business context as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), present significant opportunities for achieving increased quality, reduced costs, improved decision-making and the mitigation of safety risks in the engineering and construction industries.

Early on, engineers debated the very nature of the Panama Canal. They finally abandoned ideas about a sea-level canal (like the Suez) when engineer John Frank Stevens instead insisted upon a different option—a locks canal.