Although no university had ever won the Urban Land Institute's national design competition on its first attempt, a team of grad students fielded by NC State had ideas of doing just that. And when the dust settled, the quintet's family-centered plan earned top honors, rising above 116 entries - including those from Ivy-League heavyweights Penn and Harvard.
This summer, NC State junior and Caldwell Fellow Saul Flores will walk and hitchhike from Ecuador to his home in Charlotte, N.C. - an 11-country, 4,558-mile journey on which he hopes to raise money for an impoverished school in Mexico while increasing the overall awareness of the struggles of people in the region.
For most college students, end-of-the-year projects are fraught with worry. But for a group of NC State textile engineering majors presenting prototypes of products designed specifically for people with disabilities, it was celebration - not stress - that characterized the mood of the day.
Each semester, one NC State student is selected to speak on behalf of the entire graduating class. Before the 2010 spring commencement ceremony, we sat down with biological sciences and international studies double major Lianne Gonsalves, who reflected on everything from the Krispy Kreme Challenge to anthropological research in Guatemala.
Karen Achtyl and Megan Bittner have secured a place in history after being named the first female Naval ROTC members selected for submarine duty. They credit their ROTC training, supportive faculty and the rigorous chemical engineering program at NC State for their accomplishment.
Political science major Ericka Aiken will graduate with no debt, armed with a slew of offers from some of the nation's top law schools. She, along with 84 of her fellow graduates, is part of the inaugural class of NC State's Pack Promise program, which guarantees qualifying students 100 percent of financial aid requirements.
Zach Jones always wanted to be a hapless cartoon animal with a dangerous lifestyle and endless vitality. He was living the dream this weekend, on a quest to become the legendary Mr. Wuf. Is Zach mascot material? Follow along as the NC State freshman went under the mask, and see how his journey turned out.
When industrial design graduate student Kathryn Asad won first place in a student traffic safety contest at the New York International Auto Show, judges asked her not to mention the name of her school. It turns out they were embarrassed that students from one university - NC State - swept nearly every award in the competition.
Lindsay Campana, one of the ACC's top pitchers and the ace of the Wolfpack, will spend Monday afternoon helping 20 local children with disabilities experience the joys of playing softball. But unlike other matchups to be played across the conference that day, everyone on NC State's Dail Stadium diamond will truly leave the game a winner.
The renovated Park Shops building has everything NC State students need to dig into the past: new workspaces, spacious anthropology labs and plenty of skeletons - in the closet and elsewhere. Now, students can bone up on even the most minute details in pursuit of careers ranging from forensics to archaeology, with little concern of classroom overcrowding.