Departmental News

Valentina Cecchi, associate professor and graduate program director in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named honorary consul of Italy to the state of North Carolina. Cecchi was appointed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and endorsed by the U.S. State Department.

UNC Charlotte’s 49er Rocketry Club took first place in the launch division of the 2022 NASA Student Launch Competition, securing the event’s overall No. 1 spot for the second year in a row and earning a $5,000 prize.

After a spirited five-stage, three-year national competition, a team of UNC Charlotte researchers and students finished second in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waves to Water Prize for technology it has developed to make ocean water drinkable.

The Charlotte Business Journal and Business North Carolina have honored several College of Engineering alumni with awards this spring, as well as many others in the Niner community.

When Sydney Prince, a senior mechanical engineering major, climbed behind the wheel of UNC Charlotte’s Formula-style race car in a recent competition, it was the ultimate driving exam. Prince is a member of the Lee College of Engineering Formula SAE team that took its student-designed and built race car to Michigan International Speedway May 18-21 for a global contest.

Dr. Bala Muralikrishnan, College of Engineering alumnus, has been named a 2021 Arthur S. Flemming Award recipient. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”), in the U.S. Department of Commerce, nominated Dr. Muralikrishnan to be recognized for his outstanding service in the federal government.

Kendall Britton, as a member of the Class of 2022, will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University’s William States Lee College of Engineering. A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Britton, as part of his senior design project, delivered a presentation to Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation

A project co-led by Dr. Mona Azarbayjani, associate professor of architecture, and Dr. Hamed Tabkhi, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has received a Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I (STTR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center has been in operation for more than a decade and is a centerpiece of the region’s exponential growth within the energy industry. Offering a collaborative industry/academic partnership, EPIC produces a technical workforce and advancements in technology while supporting the Carolinas’ multi-state economic and energy security.

A team of students from the William States Lee College of Engineering are participating in a trolley restoration project. A non-profit organization called Belmont Trolley is working to restore three 100+ year-old trolleys to working condition. Two of them operated in Europe, and one of them operated here in Charlotte in the early 20th century.