April 8, 2005

Golden LEAF Awards $5.4 Million to Engineering at NC State University

On Thursday the Golden LEAF Foundation awarded $5.4 million to the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University. This award is part of Golden LEAF’s $9.3 million Aerospace Alliance Initiative to help businesses in North Carolina make parts for the Naval Air Depot at Cherry Point and the U.S. Coast Guard aircraft repair and service center in Elizabeth City.

Over the next three years Golden LEAF will dispense $9.4 million to Lenoir Community College, the Neuse River Development Authority and NC State. Lenoir Community College will receive $1.9 million for worker training, and the Neuse River Development Authority in New Bern will receive $2 million to provide loans to businesses that do not qualify for bank loans.

The College of Engineering will receive $5.4 million to provide engineering and manufacturing expertise, help businesses meet government standards quickly and develop facilities for businesses to test new parts. The effort is being led by Dr. Jerome J. Cuomo, Distinguished University Research Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Dr. Roger C. Sanwald, senior researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering; and Dr. John S. Strenkowski, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and assistant dean of research in the college.

The Aerospace Alliance Initiative promises to spawn new jobs and investments in North Carolina, especially in the eastern part of the state that has lost thousands of jobs in manufacturing and the tobacco industry.

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