September 21, 2026
NC State Electrical Distribution Upgrade Earns ENR Best Project Award
RMF Engineering, a leader in full-service infrastructure engineering, is honored to be recognized with a “Best Project” win in the Higher Education/Research category of Engineering News Record’s (ENR) 2026 Southeast Best Project Awards for its work on North Carolina State University’s (NC State) new self-healing smart grid. Completed in 2025, the project replaced the University’s aging medium-voltage electrical infrastructure with a state-of-the-art SCADA system, equipping the campus with the capacity for its next four decades.
“This recognition reflects the level of collaboration it took to modernize such a complex mission-critical campus,” said Chris Skillestad, Principal at RMF Engineering. “Replacing a 50-year-old electrical system while minimizing the impact to campus life was no small feat, and it speaks to the strength of the partnership between our team, Balfour Beatty, and the university’s many key contributors, including Tate Boulware of NC State Power Systems. We're proud to help deliver an infrastructure investment that will provide long-term, reliable service to students and faculty.”
The multi-year initiative was phased and rigorously tested to keep two district energy plants, a co-generation facility, and more than 100 building transformers reliably powered throughout construction, in addition to enabling safer remote operations and delivering increased capacity. The upgrades equip the University with a resilient, standardized electrical backbone built to support its research, academic, and residential needs well into the future.
"Higher education campuses today are asking their electrical infrastructure to support more research, density, and critical operations than ever before," said Matthew Boatwright, Principal at RMF Engineering. "Projects like this demonstrate what's possible when institutions invest proactively, building in the capacity needed to support the long-term resilience of a campus."
The Southeast Best Project Awards recognizes outstanding achievements in design and construction in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Puerto Rico. A panel of industry judges reviewed entries across 18 categories, selecting winners that will be recognized at a luncheon in Orlando, Florida on Friday, October 23, 2026.