Analytical Instrumentation Facility

Historical State Timelines
Analytical Instrumentation Facility

1920s

  • 1923 Engineering Experiment Station established

    The station was established as "the research agency in engineering" to support extension work for the School of Engineering. The station was intended to address engineering issues of local state and regional concern. H.B. Shaw became its first director.

1940s

  • 1945 Engineering Experiment Station publishes 6-part bulletin series on North Carolina minerals

    A.F. Greaves-Walker publishes a 6-part series of bulletins through the Engineering Experiment Station, to outline the need for developing and investing in North Carolina minerals. The bulletins describe "the location of the deposits and enumerate the possible uses of various minerals, with the hope that North Carolinians may be interested in developing new mineral industries during the post-war period." Greaves-Walker points out that North Carolinians ... More

  • 1946 Engineering Experiment Station becomes Engineering Research Department

    The Engineering Experiment Station is renamed the Engineering Research Department, and continues to serve as the research agency for engineering at NC State College and work closely with the departments of Ceramic, Mining, and Geological Engineering. W.G. Van Note serves as head of the department until 1951, followed by N.W. Conner and R.F. Stoops.

  • DefaultW G Van Note

1950s

  • 1951 N.W. Conner becomes head of Engineering Research Department

    N.W. Conner serves as head of the Engineering Research Department until 1967.

  • DefaultProfessor Norval W. Conner portrait

1960s

  • July 1967 Anna Clyde Fraker becomes first woman to receive a doctorate in ceramic engineering (and in the College of Engineering) at NCSU

    Dr. Fraker began her career at NC State's Department of Engineering Research, where she contributed to biomaterials engineering research. Her research focused on surgical implant materials, seeking to find a material that was compatible with the chemistry of the human body but would not corrode. In her later work at the National Bureau of Standards and Technology (NIST), Dr. Fraker's research led to the development of standards for implant materials.

1970s

  • 1971 Engineering Research Department becomes Engineering Research Services Divison

    The former Engineering Research Department is renamed to become the Engineering Research Services Division, serving as research division for the Materials Engineering department. R.F. Stoops remains head of the division until 1981.

1980s

  • 1981-1982 Analytical Instrumentation Facility

    The Engineering Research Services Division informally adopted the name Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) during the 1981-1982 fiscal year. By the 1990s that had become the official name of the unit.