Chip Ferguson

Dr. Chip Ferguson currently serves as the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology and Professor of Engineering and Technology. His past roles in the College include serving as program director and interim department head for the Department of Engineering and Technology and School Director for the Kimmel School of Construction Management. Dr. Ferguson received the designation of IDEAL Scholar from the Accrediting Bodies for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and is an ABET Program Evaluator (PEV). He received WCU's Innovative Scholarship Award in 2016, the Kimmel School’s Board of Governors Teaching Award in 2008 and the Excellence in Mentoring and Advising award in 2011. Working individually, with students and other faculty, and Western’s Center for Rapid Center he has completed over 15 significant applied research projects, two of which resulted in U.S. patent applications. He primarily served as a faculty mentor on engineering design projects for the United States Army Special Operations Command. Additionally, he has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles. In 2012, Dr. Ferguson was designated as a Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute’s (PARI) Faculty Research Affiliate for his collaboration on applied research projects and proposal work. Dr. Ferguson also serves as the PI on a National Science Foundation SSTEM funded SPIRIT Scholar program. Dr. Ferguson earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering Tech. from the University of Southern Mississippi and his doctorate in Educational Leadership, concentration in Higher Education Curriculum and Instruction, from Western Carolina University. Prior to Western, he worked five years in industry designing and developing electro-mechanical and hydrostatic power systems.