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WCU Stories

americas home place

Corporate support from America’s Home Place is helping build Construction Management program

Annual corporate support from one of the largest custom home builders in the eastern U.S. is helping lay the foundation for future successes for graduates of the Construction Management Program.  

martin tanaka

Engineering professor named as resident scholar for NSF funded research with FDA

Martin Tanaka, a professor in the College of Engineering and Technology, has been selected to be a scholar in residence with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation.   

solar panel students

Engineering students collaborate to design and build a solar tracking array

For a junior design class, three engineering students built a solar tracking array that finds and tracks the sun to keep solar panels optimally aligned with it as the Earth rotates.  

rapid center

School of Engineering and Technology receives nearly $1.5 million science grant

A program to foster the development of future technology entrepreneurs has gained monumental support through an almost $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.   

Joseph Foxx

Project management is more than just a job description

The art of project management is something that Western Carolina University alum Joseph Foxx learned quickly. The 35-year-old technical support engineer is the father of a 15-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son who worked full time at a manufacturing company in Fletcher. He did all of that while driving back and forth from the Asheville area to Cullowhee to take engineering classes.   

Thomas Farrell

Road warrior burns candle on both ends to finish degree

The next time a student claims he or she will never use the math they’re struggling with in school, have them talk to Western Carolina University alumnus Thomas Farrell, a laser process engineer who works on commercial aircraft engines at GE Aviation Asheville.  

mset8

Graduate program in College of Engineering and Technology adjusts name

The College of Engineering and Technology has announced an update for the name of a graduate program to better reflect the scope of curriculum.  

Martin Schemdt on a construction site

From Graduate Student to Project Engineer

Martin Schmedt MCM ’18, project engineer for WCU’s Apodaca Science Building, spent hours drawing plans for dream houses as a child. “After drawing so many, I began to envision building them for my friends and family,” Schmedt said.  

BaShaun Smith with a mask and text that says Essential WCU

Essential WCU

We successfully wrapped up one of the most difficult semesters in our university’s history and began a new one with many known and unknown challenges ahead. Our employees and students have worked harder than ever amid the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve their goals and to make a positive difference in the world.  

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