Research Opportunities

Chemical and Bioengineering

The Chemical and Bioengineering Department currently conducts research in the areas of diffusional studies, polymer processing, process control, bio-processes, catalyst research, chemical thermody, bio-materials, bio-transport tissue engineering and environmental research.

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

The Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department conducts research in structural and environmental engineering including construction materials, energy and building science, renewable energy and environmental modeling and water resources.

Computational Data Science and Engineering

Computational modeling and simulations have currently become the integral component of engineering and physical sciences. It has now become the third major methodology for analysis, synthesis and design in addition to the traditional analytical and experimental methodologies. Computational Data Science and Engineering program at North Carolina A&T State University is an interdisciplinary graduate program fostering computationally oriented research in the fields of engineering, science, technology and business to prepare students to work effectively in the current and future work environments.

Computer Science

The Department offers an MS computer science degree with the option of a "General Track" or two specialization tracks:  "Artificial Intelligence Track" and "Software Engineering Track".  Students interested in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence can choose one of these specialization tracks whereas students interested in other areas may select General Track and design their curriculum in consultation with their advisor to satisfy all graduation requirements for the MS in CS.

The research activities of the Department include: System and Network Security, Concurrent Systems, and Web Technologies.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Department of Electrical Engineering conducts research activities in the following areas: Microelectronics, Electronic Materials, Electronic Control Subsystems and Monitoring, Information Processing, Energy and Critical Infrastructure and Intelligent Systems.

Industrial and Systems Engineering

The Department of Industrial Engineering is actively involved with research in the following areas: Hybrid Approach to Direct-Write Based Micro and Nano Manufacturing; Developing Expertise of Minority Students in Managing Threats and Response to Emergency Situations through Interdisciplinary Research Research; Interdisciplinary Research for the Development of a Direct-Write Fabrication Process; Bone Conduction Threshold and Speech Intelligibility Studies for Use in the Development of Military Radio Communication Devices; Center for Human-Centric Commmand and Control Decision-Making; Performance Analysis of Brain-Computer Interface in Virtual and Real Task Environment; A Virtual Human Agent For Assessing Bias in Novice Therapists; Research 3-D Technology Impacts on Operators; Establishing a Graduate Interdisciplinary Liberal Engineering Ethics Curriculum; Enhancement of Minority Student Participation in the Human-Enterprise Systems Engineering Program; Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power; AMRDEC Logistics Engineering Support; AMRDEC Engineering Division- Logistics Engineering Support, and Six Sigma in Public Health Clinics; Improving Health Outcomes.

Mechanical Engineering

The research department is extremely active in research and numerous papers and reports are produced each year. There are four research centers, including The Center for Composite Materials Research, The Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures, the NASA Center for Aerospace Research and the Mars Mission Research Center, a joint center with North Carolina State University.

The Department is involved in research activities in the following areas:  Mechanics and Materials, Energy and Thermal Fluid Systems, Mechanical and Manufacturing Systems, Aerospace, Process Control, and Separation and Mass Transport.

Robust Research Programs

During Fiscal Year 2019, College of Engineering faculty submitted 136 proposals (requested amount of $41,279,968), had 91 funded projects ($12,179,797) and 199 peer reviewed publications. The UNC system is known for its strong research productivity and North Carolina A&T is proud of the fact that in this intense research environment, it ranks third among its sixteen sister institutions in the amount of research expenditures. The College of Engineering at North Carolina A&T annually contributes a very significant amount of the total research funding awarded to the university. The College of Engineering at North Carolina A&T is second in total research funding among the colleges of engineering in the UNC system.

The Testing, Evaluation, and Control of Heterogeneous Large-Scale Systems of Autonomous Vehicles (TECHLAV) Center is funded ($5 million) by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory as a Center of Excellence in Autonomy. The center, led by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, comprises a strong multi-disciplinary team, bringing together expertise in control, communication and human cognition from N.C. A&T and its collaborator the University of Texas San Antonio.  The center also is partnering with Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to provide education, outreach activities and curriculum development to a larger Native American community.  

North Carolina A&T State University received a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to study food aid supply chains using big data analytics. Led by a cross-disciplinary team at NCAT, the grant will support food insecurity research in a project called “Improving Strategies for Hunger Relief and Food Security Using Computational Data Science”. The grant will provide a unique and comprehensive training experience for a total of 50 masters and doctoral students, including 45 funded trainees, by combining disciplines in industrial and systems engineering, computer science, mathematics, agricultural economics, sociology and public policy. This NRT grant will develop an innovative, interdisciplinary training model in data science designed to grow the workforce that will help organizations such as local food banks better analyze their efforts and improve the provision of food aid at the local, state and federal level.

The Pipeline Development of Skilled Workforce in STEM through Advanced Manufacturing (STEAM) program is funded by the DOE Office of Nuclear Security in the amount of $2,960,403 for three years and in collaboration with three HBCU partners, Southern University of New Orleans, Tennessee State University, and Virginia State University. The goal is to provide HBCU faculty and students with the unique expertise and exposure to STEM through Advance Manufacturing technologies and current research areas for the purpose of building the pipeline. STEAM continues to pursue student-focused activities which successfully merge R&D, Education, and Outreach initiatives.

The Engineering Research Center for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials at North Carolina A&T State University continues to conduct innovative research in biomedical engineering and nano-bio applications. It is funded by the National Science Foundation ($36,683,700) with a goal to generate revolutionary advances in medicine through the development of biocompatible and biodegradable materials to be used in implants for reconstruction and regeneration. North Carolina A&T is the ERC’s lead institution; partners include the University of Pittsburgh, University of Cincinnati, and Hannover Medical School in Germany. NSF Engineering Research Centers are considered landmarks in federal support for university research in partnership with industry to produce innovative technologies and significantly enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

The College of Engineering at North Carolina A&T has 13 research centers led by COE researchers and officially recognized by the university. These centers are as follows:

• Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures (Dr. Shivakumar)
• Center for Advanced Studies in Identity Sciences (Dr. Yuan)
• Center for Aerospace Research (Dr. Ferguson)
• Center for Aviation Safety (Dr. Shivakumar)
• Center for Composite Materials Research (Dr. Shivakumar)
• Center for Cyber Defense (Dr. Yuan)
• Center for Energy Research and Technology (Dr. Monty)
• Center for Human Machine Studies (Dr. Smith-Jackson)
• Institute for Autonomous Control and Information Technology (Dr. Homaifar)
• NSF Engineering Research Center for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (Dr. Sankar)
• Science and Technology Center for Academic Excellence in Advanced Biometrics (Dr. Yuan)
• Visualization and Computation Advancing Research Center (VICAR) (Dr. Bikdash)

Please see the Division of Research and Economic Development website for further information about each of these research centers.