Engineering and Computer Science was founded as a department in 2012 (then called Engineering and Technology) and quickly outgrew its classroom space. Thanks to the generosity of the  North Carolina General Assembly and the NCSSM Foundation, the classrooms were renovated to improve the amount of space, upgrade the utilities, and create a better teaching and learning environment. The renovation of the classrooms was completed in 2017 and has allowed us to expand our course offerings in several areas. Once classroom primarily serves mechanical, civil, and environmental engineering while the other serves electrical and biomedical engineering along with architecture and circuits.

The Peter T. Haughton Fabrication and Innovation Laboratory was made possible through the leadership of Carl Ryden ’89, chair of the NCSSM Foundation. Ryden sought to honor his friend and classmate, Pete Haughton ‘89 who held degrees in engineering, mathematics, public policy, and business and was working in sustainable real estate development when he died unexpectedly in 2006. Ryden envisioned an interdisciplinary space that would foster the cross-pollination of art, craftsmanship, and science.

The Mechatronics Laboratory at NCSSM serves students engaging in activities at the intersection of mechanical systems, electronics, and computer science. The Laboratory will host classes in robotics and research, support academic competition teams, and be a resource for summer and other extended programs serving students throughout the State. It houses the School-sponsored FIRST Robotics Competition team, the Zebracorns, which engages students from around the area in an exiting and challenging STEM program. 

The FabLab classroom adjoins the Morganton FabLab, making it the ideal setting to explore many engineering disciplines, such as robotics, biomedical engineering, and civil engineering. It is becoming a community destination for those who enjoy working with their hands and minds to make their imaginations become a reality.

Thanks to a generous gift from Leviton, we have an electronics and programming classroom with oscilloscopes, power supplies, signal generators, and more to allow students to learn about electronics and circuits. The classroom also features wireless technology that brings a display to each of five learning pods, creating a more inclusive classroom where everyone has a more equal view of the material on display and where students in each pod can more easily share with each other. 

It's been incredible to watch the Morganton FabLab come to life, with 3D printers, laser cutters, a crafts center, and ample space for "making". Our wood shop has a CNC router along with a band saw, drill press, and other woodworking tools while our metal shop will soon be complete with state of the art tools for cutting, drilling, shaping, and welding a wide variety of materials. It isn't just rockets and robots (though still very cool if it was!) - you'll also see clothing being made, gifts, works of art, and more being made by students, faculty, and staff.