Charlotte’s William States Lee College of Engineering Breaks Enrollment Record
UNC Charlotte’s William States Lee College of Engineering enters the 2025-2026 academic year with record-breaking enrollment, an expanded leadership team, nearly 30 new faculty and staff and new academic opportunities including an aerospace concentration.
INCREASING STUDENT ENROLLMENT
The new academic year brings over 49% more new Niner Engineers than last year, demonstrating growing demand for Charlotte engineering degrees. Both first-year and overall student numbers in 2025 break college records with highest ever enrollment. The academic demand reflects the growth of Charlotte itself as the 4th fastest growing city in the U.S., setting the university apart from all others in North Carolina. The student enrollment in Charlotte engineering also surpasses goals set by the NC Legislature in “Engineering North Carolina’s Future” initiative, displaying the success of state investment in Charlotte programs.
Rob Keynton, dean of the W.S. Lee College of Engineering, has brought new as well as familiar faces onto the leadership team, strengthening the college with even more expertise and strategic insight. “I am honored to welcome all the faculty, staff and students to our college for the new academic year. We have an outstanding group of new faculty joining the college, many of whom are internationally renowned in their fields of research. I am also pleased to have excellent leaders join our administrative team: Drs. Nasipuri, Sun and Zhu. Our upward trajectory continues as evidenced by our enrollment, research funding and philanthropic growth,” said Dean Keynton.
Asis Nasipuri, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has served as Chair of the department since 2015. Beginning Summer 2025, he is serving as the first Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs for the W.S. Lee College of Engineering. With a research background in communication and wireless networks, Nasipuri has earned several recognitions, including serving as the President of the South Eastern Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association, General Chair of ACM MobiHoc’12, editorial board member of IJAHUC and more. Twenty five years among Charlotte’s engineering college faculty provide Nasipuri deep perspective and many relationships he can leverage in the role of associate dean of faculty affairs.
Ying Sun is welcomed as the new chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science. She joins UNC Charlotte from the University of Cincinnati, where she was the Herman Schneider Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives for the College of Engineering and Applied Science. An internationally recognized expert in thermal-fluid sciences, Sun is an elected Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. She also currently serves as an Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer and leads two NSF-funded initiatives: an REU Site on Zero Emissions and an IRES Site on Semiconductor Manufacturing in partnership with Taiwan.
Qiang Zhu, associate professor of mechanical engineering, has been appointed as the interim director of the North Carolina Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification Center, the BATT CAVE. Zhu’s research interests include computational modeling, informatics and materials science as he investigates materials’ structure-property relation. As interim director, Zhu will guide battery technology and autonomous vehicle research which is driven by a broad team of faculty experts. BATT CAVE is the only university-led battery research center in North Carolina.