A Timeline: 125 Years of Innovation
1889
Several agriculture experiment stations transferred to the North Carolina College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts, founded in 1887.
1915
B.F. Knapp develops first vaccine for fowl pox.
1926
Floyd Israel devises a faster, cheaper method for cooking wood pulp, yet keeping quality.
1928
J.G. Staunton finds that use of chlorine, thus forming chloramines, renders treated wastewater less objectionable to public water supplies downstream.
1937
Donald Benton's team identifies effects of constant light & temperature on growing cotton.
1941
Allies in WWII use Robert Stone's research on insulation for radio, radar & medical equipment.
1953
The nation's first nuclear reactor to focus on teaching, research & public service opens.
1955
The new Industrial Extension Service is the first of its kind in the nation.
1955
With partners at Charlotte Memorial Hospital, W.E. Shinn develops first synthetic aorta by using a modified necktie machine.
1958
NC State, Duke and UNC-CH establish the Research Triangle Institute at Research Triangle Park.
1959
Ken-Ichi Kojima's study of polymorphism lays groundwork for population genetics & DNA forensics.
1968
Team develops & tests method for detecting minute levels of pesticides in surface water.
1968-70
Marvin Speck develops Sweet Acidophilus milk with bacteria beneficial to digestion.
1969
Frranklin Hart develops noise-control technologies for worker safety in factories.
1970 -75
James Goodnight & statistics team develop the Statistical Analysis System, the basis for the SAS Institute.
1971
Ellis Cowling publishes early paper on acid rain, focusing on Appalachian forests.
1974
Solomon Hersch & Subhash Batra begin studies that will reduce brown lung disease in textile mills.
1976
J.C. Raulston founds NC State Arboretum, which will introduce more than 320 new plants.
1978
John Hauser's team builds the first monolithic cascade solar cell to harness solar energy.
1980
The State Climate Office moves to campus as primary source for climate information and research.
1981
The Solar House, now part of the Solar Center, opens to demonstrate new technologies.
1981
NC State welcomes its first class of future veterinarians. The college is now rated third in the nation.
1984
State of North Carolina assigns initial acreage for Centennial Campus. First university occupant arrives in 1989.
1987
Students form CREE Research Inc., first maker of blue light-emitting diodes — or LEDs — in 1989.
1988
NSF awards the Engineering Research Center for Advanced Electronic Materials Processing.
1988
Mars Mission Center established in partnership with NC A&T.
1989
Ronald Mace establishes Center for Universal Design to focus design on wide accessibility.
1990
Bruce Weir publishes standard text for teaching Genetic and DNA forensics worldwide.
1992
Richard Noble identifies better stocking procedures to ensure success of largemouth bass.
1994
The space shuttle Discovery deploys research project initiated by NC State students.
1996
Wentai Liu designs prototype for artificial retina.
1998
James Otvos develops blood cholesterol test that grew into LipoScience, which went public
in 2013.
1998
Steven Lommel & Tim Sit prove RNA can control gene expression, showing RNA, not DNA, as basic building block.
1998
Thomas Parker unearths the remains in Jordan of the oldest structure used as Christian church.
1999
Jan Schetzina develops prototype for digital camera the senses only ultraviolet light.
1999
Based on research on food preservation, Agrofresh start-up forms and markets SmartFresh.
1999
Graduate students form Nitronex Corp. to produce efficient semiconductors.
2000
The Center for Marine Sciences and Technology opens in Morehead City.
2001
Team provides national leadership to understand feline immunodeficiency virus, leading to ongoing partnerships with industry to fight FIV and HIV.
2002
Michael Roe reveals BioUD as a tomato-based insect repellant, an alternative to DEET
2002
Dan Feldheim and Stefan Franzen develop nanoscopic polymer capsules to deliver chemotherapy using peptide fragments from virus proteins.
2003
Benham Pourdeyhimi and Trevor Little
create new 3-D textiles, then found Novolon, which was purchased by Freudenberg Nonwovens, which built a plant in Durham.
2003
Friday Institute for Educational Innovation opens.
2004
Liquidia founded, based on nanoparticle research led by Joseph DeSimone.
2004
Team of engineers, led by Jay Narayan, develops breakthrough processes for creating self-assembled nanostructures for information storage.
2005
The Covington variety of sweet potato is released. By 2011, it accounts for 90% of NC crop.
2005
The Textile Protection and Comfort Center teams with industry to develop suits to protect firefighters yet also provide movement.
2005
NC State's Prague Institute opens, expanding beyond initial courses from the College of Design to cover many disciplines.
2005
Mary Schweitzer discovers soft tissue in a 68-million-year-old dinosaur bone.
2006
NC State team participates in developing filter to remove human form of mad cow disease from blood.
2006
Through North Carolina Journeys, NC State brings a new approach to textbooks for public schools.
2007
Christian Melander & John Cavanagh found Agile Sciences to create products from the Agelas sea sponge to help antibiotics treat infections.
2008
Stephen Reynolds leads a team that confirmed the youngest known supernova remnant.
2008
NC State opens center at NC Research Campus to study plants & human health.
2008
Bailey variety of peanuts is the latest version introduced for growers in NC, SC and VA.
2008
Edward Breitschwerdt develops a new rapid test for Bartonella, known as cat scratch fever, leading to creation of Galaxy Diagnostics.
2008
Environmental and social scientists, Fire Chasers begin helping federal officials improve organizational response to fighting wildfires.
2008
Collaborative team designs better play areas to help reduce childhood obesity.
2009
Psychology researchers find senior citizens can use electronic games to maintain cognitive skills.
2009
Industrial Extension Service reaches goal of creating $1 billon in economic value to NC manufacturers in less than 4 years.
2009
The Entrepreneurship Initiative launches the eGames student competition.
2010
Glenn Kleiman, Friday Insititue director, is key partner in NC receiving $400 million in federal Race to the Top education funds.
2010
Michael Steer's team identifies ways to identify improvised explosive devices, now used by U.S. troops.
2011
Smart transformers developed by the FREEDM Systems NSF Engineering Research Center named in world Top 10 emerging technologies by MIT.
2011
Aseptia announces plans to open Wright Foods facility in Troy, NC, based on NC State food preservation research
2011
Spurred by Paola Sztagn, NC State hosts meeting to define national Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.
2011
Astrophysicists solve the mystery of what caused a supernova in 185 A.D.
2011
Michael Dickey & Orlin Velev lead development of memory device that is as soft as Jell-O and functions well in wet environments.
2012
NSF awards the ASSIST Engineering Research Center to focus on smart, self-powered, wearable health and environmental sensors.
2012
Yuntian Zhu developed new techniques for stretching carbon nanotubes to create stronger and lighter carbon composites.
2012
Ramón Collazo led a team developing energy-efficient LED devices that use ultraviolet light to kill pathogens such
as bacteria and viruses.
