From the dean

It is truly an exciting time for your College of Engineering. State leaders, recognizing the vital role that engineering and computer science research and education are playing in North Carolina’s fast-growing economy, have made a major investment in NC State and other engineering programs in the University of North Carolina System to increase the number of job-ready graduates produced each year in areas including information technology, energy, health care and manufacturing.

Engineering North Carolina’s Future is a state legislative initiative that will provide NC State with $50 million over the next two years to catalyze a growth process to increase enrollment in our College by an additional 4,000 students over the next few years. This funding will start the hiring of additional faculty and staff members as well as facility upgrades and represents a great opportunity for our College to continue its upward trajectory among the most preeminent colleges of engineering in our nation and the world.

In our last issue we were delighted to share with you the news that two new major National Science Foundation (NSF) research center awards — the NSF Science and Technology Center – Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) and the NSF AI Institute for Engaged Learning — were received and are now being led by members of our faculty. Since that time, our faculty has continued its success in landing major research grants, including $6.6 million in awards from the Department of Energy for clean energy research, NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards and a Sloan Research Fellowship. This success is a tribute to the outstanding quality of our faculty members and their persistence throughout these challenging times.

At the same time, we are also grateful that campus life is returning to normal as we continue to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and our campus is more vibrant every day. We were able to honor our newest COE Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award recipients and dedicate our newest engineering building, Fitts-Woolard Hall, with in-person events last fall and celebrate the conclusion of the Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign with a dinner this spring. This campaign, which has raised more than $2.1 billion for the University, benefited from the generosity of 19,805 engineering donors who have pledged more than $267 million. We are very thankful for your commitment to NC State and look forward to reconnecting with you through more alumni events in the future.

I am also very pleased to share that, thanks to the generosity and foresight of alumni Dr. Jim and Mrs. Ann Goodnight and the Goodnight Foundation, future deans of our College will benefit from the Louis Martin-Vega Dean’s Chair Endowment at the College of Engineering. I am very grateful for their support of our College and deeply humbled and honored that they chose to associate my name with this very significant gift.

Finally, I hope that you will see, from these and other developments that we share in this issue, that your College has grown from a very challenging two-year period stronger than ever and with an even brighter path ahead. We could not have done this without the dedication and commitment of our outstanding faculty members, students and staff. We also could not have done this without your commitment to our College. Thank you for continued support and please continue to stay in touch with us.

Louis A. Martin-Vega, Ph.D., NAE
Dean