Engineers and Constructors International history

Field persisted, however, and contracted the British vessel Great Eastern, the largest ship afloat at the time, to lay a permanent telegraph cable in 1866 that vastly quickened transatlantic communication.

When completed with the driving of a golden spike into the ground in 1869, the transcontinental railroad facilitated the country’s westward expansion by cutting cross-country travel times from months to under a week.

While studying engineering at Lehigh University in the late 1880’s, Riddick learned the game of football.

The first graduating class at N.C. State was in 1893 with 19 graduates: 14 completed the course work in “mechanics” (“mechanic arts” or “engineering”) to receive the BE degree (Bachelor of Engineering), and the remaining 5 received degrees in agriculture.

Boston opened the first American subway in 1897.

In that inaugural year of 1905 Andrew Riker served as president, and an up-and-coming engineering talent named Henry Ford served as the society's first vice president.

Another report says Wallace C. Riddick became president in 1917.

Departments that were precursors to materials science and engineering were formed in the 1920s.

Lucille Thomson (according to some records) becomes the first woman ever to graduate (or to get an engineering degree) from NC State. [See 1921 Lucille Thomson entry.]

The list below identifies E-Council officers since 1926.

Named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, the project began in 1927 with the five-year construction of a 19-mile-long dike that enclosed the Zuiderzee.

The first record of I.E. as a curriculum at NC State appears in the spring 1930 college catalog.

Built by an army of more than 21,000 workers, the 60-story-tall Hoover Dam was the world’s largest concrete structure and highest dam at the time it was dedicated in 1935.

Riddick, who organized the North Carolina Society of Engineering and the Raleigh Engineers Club, remained Dean of Engineering until he retired in 1937.

Katharine Stinson was the first woman to receive an engineering degree from NC State (BSME with aeronautical option, 1941), according to some records.

1942 – Margery Belle Garriss was the first woman to receive a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and the second woman to receive an engineering degree.

SAE elected its first tractor engineer as president - C. Erwin Frudden - in 1947.

Robert L. Clemons became the first African American to receive a degree from NC State, when he received a professional degree in electrical engineering. (See also 1953.)

The Department of Geological Engineering was formed from the geology and mining departments. (Courses in metallurgy in the years before 1954 were taught in the Department of Mechanical Engineering by W.W. Austin.)

Having seen Nazi Germany use its high-speed autobahn network to efficiently move troops around the country in World War II, President Dwight D. Eisenhower spearheaded passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which authorized the largest public works project in world history.

1957 – Robert L. Clemons, one of the first two African-American graduate students enrolled at NC State, became the first African-American to receive a degree from NC State; his was a professional degree in electrical engineering.

The engineering mathematics degree, formerly offered through the Department of Mathematics in the School of Engineering, shifted to Physical and Mathematical Sciences (PAMS). The last mention in University Archives for that degree as being actually awarded was in the 1961 commencement program.

1962 – Flora Corpening Lester was the first woman to receive a degree in mechanical engineering.

Harold Lamonds was named the first head of the Nuclear Engineering Department; he served until 1963.

The Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award was established by the Faculty of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University in 1966 to honor engineering graduates who have been recognized for outstanding achievements in:

The first woman to receive an advanced degree in engineering from NC State was Anna Clyde Fraker (MS in metallurgical engineering) (See also 1967.)

1970 – Samiaha Mourad was the first woman to receive a PhD in nuclear engineering.

In 1973 the organization's rapid growth and need for staff and space led to a move to its current headquarters campus in Warrendale, PA, outside Pittsburgh.

1975 – Hubert Winston was the first African American to receive a doctoral degree in chemical engineering.

By 1978 NC State was running the largest minority engineering summer programs in the nation after only five years of recruiting and fundraising efforts.

The Mars Mission Research Center was established (according to University Archives, but College of Engineering records show 1989).

Named for Eisenhower in 1990, the Interstate Highway System drastically transformed the American economy and way of life by spurring the growth of suburbs while also decimating certain urban neighborhoods.

NC Ergonomics Resource Center reformulated, previously Ergonomics Center of North Carolina since November 2, 1994.

The Silicon Wafer Engineering and Defect Science (SiWEDS) Center, an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (NSF I/UCRC) ( unofficially established in February 1996) became a formal NSF I/UCRC.

Doctor Justin Schwartz was named head of the materials science and Engineering and Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor, replacing Michael Rigsbee, who has led the department since 1998.

Richard D. Gould named interim head of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, replacing Mohammed Noori, who had served as head since November 1999.

In 2000, SAE named its first female president, Doctor Rodica Baranescu of Navistar International.

Robert J. Trew was named head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, replacing John R. Hauser, who had served as interim head since August 16, 2001.

In 2002, SAE elected its first Indian president, Doctor S. M. Shahed of Honeywell Corporation's Garrett Engine Boosting Systems Division.

2003 – Teresa Helmlinger Ratcliff (EO ‘78) became the first woman president of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). She is the first engineer from North Carolina to hold the office.

Morton Barlaz was named head of civil, construction, and environmental engineering, replacing George List who had led the department since 2005.

In his honor, the department is renamed the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial Engineering. (See also February 16, 2006.)

Peter K. Kilpatrick was appointed director of the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC); he continued to serve as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering until he stepped down in 2007.