Duke Energy gives $75,000 for WCU engineering
A $75,000 gift from the Duke Energy Foundation will allow Western Carolina University’s Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology to improve opportunities for engineering students.
Using the money, WCU will buy $45,000 worth of new power systems laboratory equipment and provide $15,000 worth of student scholarships. The remaining $15,000 will fund faculty development and programming to encourage more students in Western North Carolina to consider a career in engineering.
“As someone who has worked with multitudes of electric cooperatives around the South, I know firsthand how important and essential electric power is to the economic growth of this region of North Carolina, and we really appreciate Duke Energy’s support,” said Jeffrey L. Ray, dean of the Kimmel School.
Since the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors approved a stand-alone engineering program at WCU in 2012, enrollment in the program has soared. In 2013, WCU was the only UNC institution to receive expansion funding, which went to expand general engineering program in its Asheville location.
