Impact Report 2025

Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering is dedicated to educating leaders needed to tackle the world’s toughest problems while making a positive impact on those around us. Detailed within this report are strong national research centers and productive faculty that are helping to define the evolution of some of tomorrow’s most critical and impactful technologies.

Faculty

Education

Research & Translation

Department Highlights

Faculty by the Numbers

Faculty directory
212

total faculty

135 tenure-track

>27%

growth of tenure-track faculty

over the last decade

10

current NAE members
52

BME
27

CEE
60

ECE
45

MEMS

New Faculty

26 faculty added to key areas since 2020

Climate Change Solutions (7)

Focusing on development and implementation for both adaptation and remediation.

Robotics (4)

Transforming our world— and our health care—with robotics and automation.

Genomic Medicine (5)

Pursuing CRISPR-related techniques for insight into gene regulation, cellular development and treatment of disease.

AI & Quantum Computing (10)

Solving the future’s toughest problems using computing technologies developed specifically for the task.

National Accolades

Additional awards and recognition
Amanda Randles

Amanda Randles

Sony Women in Technology Award with Nature

Ingrid Daubechies

Ingrid Daubechies

National Medal of Science

Hai

Helen Li

Fellow of the AAAS & IEEE Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement Award

Ashutosh Chilkoti

Ashutosh Chilkoti

Society of Biomaterials Technology Innovation and Development Award

Cynthia Rudin

Cynthia Rudin

Fellow of the AAAS

Ann Saterbak

Ann Saterbak

Fulbright Global Scholar Award

Cate Brinson

Cate Brinson

Fellow of the Materials Research Society

Junjie Yao

Junjie Yao

AIMBE College of Fellows Fellow of SPIE

Tony Jun Huang

Tony Jun Huang

ASME Per Bruel Gold Medal

David Mitzi

David Mitzi

IEEE William R. Cherry Award

Tingjun Chen, John Hickey, Harry Wang

Tingjun Chen, John Hickey and Harry Wang

NSF CAREER Awards

Amanda Randles, Tania Roy

Amanda Randles and Tania Roy

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

Back to top Continue to education

Reimagining Engineering Education

Design-Focused Experiences

Instilling design thinking skills that transfer to whatever career students choose while also improving retention rates and self-esteem.

Computational Thinking

Teaching the fundamentals of building algorithms from scratch while demonstrating how data skills apply to any career through hands-on projects.

Character and Ethics

Engaging faculty to integrate lessons in ethics and character into their curricula to graduate great engineers—and good people.

Community-Based Experiences

Providing hands-on experiences by working with local and global partners that make an immediate impact on people’s lives.

Our Students

3314

total students

672

PhD

1276

master’s

1363

undergrad

103%

growth in total graduate enrollment

over the last decade

141

PhD matriculations in FY25

record high and 68% increase in past 10 years

64%

of undergrads conduct faculty-sponsored research

97%

of bachelor’s grads are employed full-time or pursuing continuing education

within six months of graduation

Top Education News of 2025

View all news

Explore our Programs

A Duke Engineering education leads to lives of purpose and integrity that are as rewarding as they are impactful. Explore our supportive and inclusive community that defines excellence in engineering.

Undergraduate

Solve hard problems. Have fun doing it.

Master’s

Master tomorrow’s challenges.

PhD

Prepare for a high-impact career.

Back to top Continue to research

 $114M in total annual research expenditures

Signature Research Themes Centers & Institutes

Major Externally Funded Research Centers

NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Precision Microbiome Engineering

Understanding and improving the microbial communities that inhabit our built environments.

NSF AI Institute for Edge Computing (Athena)

Leveraging AI, edge computing and next-generation networked systems to reimagine future mobile devices.

DOE Quantum Systems Accelerator (QSA)

Delivering prototype quantum systems that are optimized for major advances in key areas.

DoD Spinodal-Hardened High-Entropy Ceramics MURI (SPICES)

Designing recipes for new “high-entropy” materials tailored to super-hard, high-temperature applications.

AFOSR Meta-Imaging MURI

Creating a “super camera” that can capture and process a wide range of light’s properties.

NIH Impact of Genomic Variation on Function Consortium (IGVF)

Using CRISPR-based tools to identify gene regulatory elements critical to cellular behavior and disease.

Training Grants

Center for Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering (CBTE)

Linking protein engineering, cellular engineering and tissue engineering.

AI for Understanding and Designing Materials (aiM)

Developing expertise in using artificial intelligence for materials science research.

Traineeship in the Advancement of Surgical Technologies (TAST)

Mixing engineering and computer science to advance surgical practices.

From Our Labs to Your World in FY25

More about entrepreneurship
111

new invention disclosures

plus 47 patents issued

11

license agreements with industry partners

5

spin-off companies based on faculty research

$18.6M

revenue resulting from Duke Engineering technologies

$249M

raised for Pratt start-ups pre-IPO in FY25

$1.6B

raised for Pratt start-ups pre-IPO in last five years

Notable Startups

PROTECT3D logo

PROTECT3D

Founded by undergraduates, a company producing custom-printed protective devices for professional athletes.

restor3d logo

restor3d

Providing bespoke 3D-printed orthopedic implants to doctors and patients for better surgical outcomes.

IonQ logo

IonQ

The first pure-play quantum computing company publicly traded on the U.S. stock market.

374Water logo

374Water

Using “pressure cooker on steroids” technology to build modular wastewater treatment plants that can destroy PFAS.

phasebio logo

PhaseBio

Developing specialized, highly innovative therapies for patients with serious cardiovascular diseases.

evolv logo

Evolv

Combining intelligent hardware, cloud-based analytics, and integration with other systems to improve security screening.

Top Research News of 2025

View all news
Four students pose in a lab with a white prototype of a their low-cost tympanometer device
1/7/25 Pratt School of Engineering

Preventing Childhood Hearing Loss Worldwide

Local and global collaborations help BME Design Fellows make a low-cost, affordable, and easy-to-use screening tool for hearing loss in children

Back to top Continue to department highlights

Biomedical Engineering

Duke BME Impact Report
top 5

BME graduate and undergraduate programs

U.S. News and World Report

$50M

research expenditures

in FY25

27

AIMBE Fellows

9

Members of the National Academy of Inventors

22

startups

$175M

Tune Therapeutics

raised in Series B financing to pursue the clinical application of epigenome editing to treat common and chronic diseases.

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Duke CEE website
#10

environmental engineering graduate program

U.S. News and World Report

Critical Minerals Hub

Launched by Leanne Gilbertson to develop a framework for managing demand and supply in the short term and reducing critical minerals dependence over the long term.

Information Science and Engineering for the Public Sector

Launched by Helen Hsu-Kim to empower future professionals with the knowledge and tools of information science and AI to address public-sector challenges.

50%

undergraduate enrollment increase

in the past year alone

Center for Innovation in Risk, Catastrophes, and Decisions

Funded by the NIH and led by Mark Borsuk to advance insurance innovation and large-scale risk mitigation amid escalating climate disasters.

Gates Foundation Leadership

Marc Deshusses was appointed to a Deputy Director role with the Gates Foundation.

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Duke ECE website
#17 & #18

computer engineering and electrical engineering graduate programs

U.S. News and World Report

$37.5M

research expenditures

in FY25

44 & 52

PhD students graduated and matriculated

in 2024-2025

21

IEEE Fellows

42% of tenured/tenure-track faculty members

$18B+ & $1B+

publicly traded market caps

of ECE startups IonQ and Evolv

AI/ML Research & Education

NSF Athena AI Institute
New AI/ML master’s track

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Duke MEMS website
$14.5M

research expenditures

in FY25

#24

mechanical engineering and materials science graduate programs

U.S. News and World Report

$104M

raised by Restor3D

a startup focusing on personalized orthopedic implants launched by Ken Gall.

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AI + Materials

Master’s Program specializing in AI-driven materials design, empowering students to imagine —and create—the technologies of tomorrow.

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