A Look Back at 2025

From new milestones to career-defining awards, faculty, staff and students at NC State continue to lead the pack into a new year of innovation and success.

Leading the Way in Applied AI

• As part of an initiative established by Louis Martin-Vega Dean of Engineering Jim Pfaendtner, faculty at the College of Engineering continue to integrate AI across teaching and research throughout the college’s work. In 2025, the college launched new AI courses, brought AI experts to campus for a new seminar series and hosted the second Applied AI Symposium. Pfaendtner announced two new programs to support faculty, the Applied AI Research Accelerator Award Program and the Applied AI Faculty Scholarship Fellowship Program.

BTEC Graduates 1,000th Student

The Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center has positioned NC as a leader in biomanufacturing, with more than 80% of graduates remaining in North Carolina for their first job. This past spring, 83 students graduated from BTEC, which offers two master’s degrees; graduate and undergraduate minors; and graduate, post-baccalaureate and undergraduate certificates.

Fueling Innovation One Battery at a Time

In May, the College of Engineering launched a new initiative to advance research in battery and energy storage systems and develop new courses and curricula in support of North Carolina’s growing energy sector. The college hosts its first Battery and Energy Systems Storage Symposium in 2026.

Planting Seeds for Change at the NC State Bezos Center 

Speakers from all over the world met to talk about feeding the world sustainably during the Bezos Center’s first-ever summit. The center’s faculty, staff and students have spent the last year and a half advancing science and technology, workforce readiness and societal awareness about the biomanufacturing of plant-based, fermentation-made and cell-cultivated alternative proteins.

Transformational Investments

Ross W. Lampe Jr. ’77  named the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill back in February. The department plans to establish an Innovation Fellowship program and create new faculty positions with his $20 million investment.

Lawrence (Larry) Twisdale Jr. ’69, ’70 created the Twisdale Family Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department Head position in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, as well as a second named professorship. He and his wife, Fran, gave a total of $4 million, which will also go toward supporting undergraduate recruitment and fostering alumni engagement.

Beyond the Day

On Day of Giving, alumni, parents, faculty and staff members, students and friends of the college gave 1,515 gifts totalling $8,165,279 — but more important than the numbers are the spirit behind the gifts and the causes they go to support.

Faculty Highlights

• Jie Yin received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on early-career scientists and engineers.

• Martin Thuo, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Victor Veliadis, CTO of PowerAmerica and professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, were named 2024 Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the highest professional distinction awarded solely to academic inventors. Cheryl Xu, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, was named a 2025 NAI Fellow.

• Five faculty members received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) to support their groundbreaking and innovative research:
  • Andrew Lee, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • Xiaorui Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
  • Yuchen Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science
  • Vijay Shah, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Ruijuan Xu, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

• Three faculty members in the Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering were named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellows are elected by the AAAS Council for their extraordinary contributions to their work in science, technology, engineering or mathematics:
  • Jan Genzer, S. Frank and Doris Culberson Distinguished Professor
  • Jim Pfaendtner, Louis Martin-Vega Dean of Engineering and Professor
  • Krista Walton, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Distinguished Professor

• Ge Yang, a full professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, was selected as a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors. 

• Jacob Jones, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the National Science Foundation Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability Center, received the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by NC State and the university’s Board of Trustees.

• Three College of Engineering faculty members were named Fulbright Scholars:
  • Sankar Arumugam, Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
  • Adolfo Escobedo, Associate Professor, Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Tim Horn, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Student Highlights

• The Rural Works! program continues to bridge students and rural communities. This year, 145 students worked in 43 counties at 81 companies in industries including electric, aerospace and renewable energy. 
• NC State’s Pack Pullers claimed the top spot at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) International Quarter Scale Tractor Student Design Competition, besting teams from 22 other universities across the U.S. and Canada.
• After nine years of competing in the SensUs International Biosensor Competition for students, the SenseNC team from NC State won first place in innovation with their novel research on detecting creatinine, a biomarker for kidney function.
• Sivana Hamer, a third-year Ph.D. student in computer science, became the first NC State student to receive a 2025 Google PhD Fellowship. The prestigious fellowship recognizes outstanding graduate students who are conducting exceptional and innovative research in computer science and related fields.

Alumni Highlights

• Adm. Daryl Caudle ’85 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 31 to serve as the next Chief of Naval Operations to the United States. Caudle, who has a degree in chemical engineering from NC State University, delivered the commencement address for NC State this past May.
• Neal Robbins ’01 was appointed deputy under secretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a role that will place him in senior leadership over tens of billions of dollars in housing, utility and community development programs serving rural America. Robbins holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and was a Park Scholar during his time at NC State.
• Zach Hetzler ’24 leads Verdia Diagnostics, a university startup set to improve the detection and diagnosis of plant diseases. The startup recently won third-place at an agricultural innovation competition with over 500 entries from 97 countries.