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N.C. A&T opens new engineering research complex

N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. stands in front of the new facility that bears his name. Courtesy N.C. A&T.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is celebrating the opening of a new research facility. 

Governor Roy Cooper and Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan were among those attending the Thursday ribbon-cutting for the Harold L. Martin Sr. Engineering Research and Innovation Complex on the N.C. A&T campus.

College of Engineering Dean Robin Coger hosted the event, where she thanked voters for approving a $2 billion statewide bond package in 2016 that helped fund the facility.

Governor Cooper had praise for the facility's namesake, Chancellor Harold L. Martin, Sr.

"He believes, as I do, that every single child in North Carolina deserves a sound, basic education," said Cooper. "That equity and inclusion should be our guide."  

The complex occupies 130,000 square feet on the East Greensboro campus.

The four-story building houses state-of-the-art equipment including a 3D holographic design studio, an augmented driving simulator that recreates real-world conditions, and a robotics facility.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misgendered Dean Robin Coger. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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