NC State University engineers continue to change the world through groundbreaking research that solves society’s greatest challenges. Our students benefit from a hands-on educational experience integrating research and education that prepares future generations of leaders and fuels the high tech economy of North Carolina and the nation.

Fitts-Woolard Hall opened in the summer of 2020. The College’s newest facility marks a crucial next step in the College of Engineering’s move to Centennial Campus, providing critical infrastructure that allows faculty members and students to leverage the power of convergence across disciplines in an atmosphere unmatched anywhere in the nation.

NC State’s Centennial Campus provides a unique research park environment that catalyzes entrepreneurship and innovation in the College of Engineering. The state-of-the-art engineering buildings and their close proximity to industry and government facilities on Centennial Campus foster and facilitate innovation in research and education through partnership opportunities and inspire and enable faculty and students to address the grand challenges of 21st century society.

Why build a new engineering building?

Engineering at NC State is a powerful driver of economic impact for North Carolina and the nation. NC State’s engineering graduates not only dominate the state’s highly skilled workforce at companies such as Cree, SAS and IBM; they also create jobs by developing new technologies, launching innovative companies and bringing cutting-edge products to market. NC State’s College of Engineering is critical in attracting businesses and industries to North Carolina.

Demand for engineering and computer science degrees has never been higher. The high tech economy of North Carolina and the nation demands a steady flow of engineering graduates to maintain the nation’s leadership in a global economy.

Who is using Fitts-Woolard Hall?

Fitts-Woolard Hall is the home of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering; the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering; and the dean’s administrative offices. Innovators from these departments use classrooms and state-of-the-art laboratories to further research and education excellence in areas of critical societal need.

• Biomanufacturing
• Advanced manufacturing
• Rapid prototyping
• Health systems engineering
• Construction engineering and management
• Environmental engineering
• Transportation systems and other fields of great societal impact

How did we make Fitts-Woolard Hall a reality?

NC State University made Fitts-Woolard Hall a top-priority capital project for the university in 2014. Using the state flexibility for public-private partnerships to finance construction, NC State set out an ambitious plan to raise private funds for construction of Fitts-Woolard Hall while lobbying for state funding to support half of the $150 million needed to complete the building.

In fall 2015, the North Carolina legislature passed critical legislation that supported the construction of Fitts-Woolard Hall: $2 million in planning funds, included in the biennial budget, and a $75 million allocation included in the Connect NC bond referendum. On March 15, 2016, North Carolinians voted to pass the bond referendum ensuring that $77 million in public funds were available to build Fitts-Woolard Hall.

Fitts-Woolard Hall Project Fund

For information on how to support Fitts-Woolard Hall, please contact Griffin Lamb, Assistant Dean for Philanthropy, at (919) 515-7458 or grlamb@ncsu.edu.

Fitts-Woolard Hall At-a-Glance

Project Highlights

• Students: 1,560
• Faculty/Staff: 170
• Flexible and adaptable teaching and research labs, classrooms and offices
• Building promotes interaction and collaboration among faculty, students and staff
• Building serves as teaching tool, demonstrating sustainability and engineering components throughout its envelope, structure and control systems
• LEED Silver Certified minimum
• Engineering on display through transparent labs and exposed building components
• Stormwater management, using constructed wetland and underground cistern (fed by roof runoff and condensate return)

Budget

• Engineering Building:  $137,000,000
• Utility Plant Expansion (combined heat and power): $17,000,000|
• Total Project Budget: $154,000,000

Size

• ~ 225,000 Gross Square Feet

Schedule

• Design Completion: March 2018
• Construction Start: April 2018
• Construction Completion: June 2020
• Building Dedication Event: October 29, 2021

Designer

• Clark Nexsen, Raleigh, NC (Designer of Record for Hunt Library)

Construction Manager

• Skanska, Durham, NC (Construction Manager for Engineering Building III and Hunt Library)

Take a look inside Fitts-Woolard Hall

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Videos

Think and Do the Extraordinary, the Campaign for NC State: Fitts-Woolard Hall

Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at NC State, talks about how the college continues to rely on the generosity and support of alumni and friends to raise the remaining funding for Fitts-Woolard Hall. Over $47 million has been raised but over $12 million is left to be raised.

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Fitts-Woolard Hall at NC State by Clark Nexsen

In the video, Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the college of engineering; Dr. Julie Swann, head of the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE); and Dr. Morton Barlaz, head of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE), talk about the importance of Fitts–Woolard Hall to ISE and CCEE faculty members, students and staff and how alumni support for the building is appreciated and still needed.

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Construction of Fitts-Woolard Hall

Watch its progress from three camera feeds

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Extraordinary Places in Action: Fitts-Woolard Hall

“It’s more than bricks and mortar.”
The result of a unique public-private partnership, which includes the transformational support of Edward P. Fitts, Jr. and Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. and the generous commitment of over 300 alumni, Fitts-Woolard Hall will have an extraordinary impact on teaching, learning, research and industry.

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Getting Settled*

In the video, Getting Settled, Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of engineering; Dr. Peter Fedkiw, head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering located in Engineering Building I (EB I); and Dr. Julie Swann, head of the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, discuss the benefits of the College’s presence on Centennial Campus, including enhanced resources that facilitate recruitment of faculty members and students and proximity to other engineering departments that encourage interdisciplinary research.

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Making the Move*

In the video, Making the Move, Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of engineering, visits a lab in Mann Hall, the current but aging home to the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, and talks to students who are excited about moving to Fitts-Woolard Hall and look forward to larger lab spaces, better equipment and proximity to eight other engineering departments.

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Passing the Torch*

The late Dr. Nino Masnari, emeritus dean of engineering, and Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, current dean of engineering, discuss the importance of Fitts-Woolard Hall to the future of the College and its students.

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