RMF Engineering

Elizabeth City State University is making a transformative investment in the future of its campus infrastructure through a multi-phase modernization program designed to support growth, reliability, and long-term resiliency across the University. As one of North Carolina’s proud HBCUs, this investment represents a significant commitment to enhancing the student experience and strengthening campus operations for generations to come.

RMF is providing civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering services for the phased upgrades, which include replacement of the campus medium voltage electrical distribution and domestic water systems serving more than 1.5 million square feet of facilities. The project also includes two new domestic water booster stations, a central generator plant, and hot and chilled water distribution upgrades.

The new campus domestic water booster stations and distribution system is fully operational, and upgrades to the power distribution system are substantially complete. All four 2 MW medium voltage generators, located on campus adjacent to the Central Utility Plant and the RL Vaughn Center, have been installed, with startup pending. Installation of the paralleling gear is the final major milestone for the generator project. When complete, the new self-healing electrical distribution system will improve reliability and resiliency across campus while creating the capacity to support ECSU's growth for the next 50 years.

RMF's work on North Carolina State University's Electrical Distribution Upgrade has been recognized with a 2026 ENR Texas & Southeast Best Project Award in the Higher Education/Research category.

“This recognition reflects the level of collaboration it took to modernize such a complex mission-critical campus,” said Chris Skillestad, Principal at RMF. “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 US, and the university's many key contributors, including Tate Boulware, of NC State Power Systems.”

Completed in 2025, the multi-year project replaced the university's aging medium-voltage electrical infrastructure with a state-of-the-art SCADA system. The work was phased and rigorously tested to maintain reliable power to two district energy plants, a co-generation facility, and more than 100 building transformers throughout construction while delivering increased capacity and enabling safer remote operations.

RMF Principal Matthew Boatwright noted that higher education campuses are asking their electrical infrastructure to support more research, density, and critical operations than ever before. Projects like this help institutions build the capacity needed to support long-term campus resilience.

Congratulations to the project team and partners who helped make this achievement possible.

Learn more on RMF's Newsroom: https://bit.ly/4hgZvOS

Engineering News-Record

Built to support changing exhibits. Engineered to keep the focus on the experience.

At the South Carolina Aquarium, RMF helped create a flexible exhibit space designed to transform with each new installation.

The first fit-out at the John A. Hill Family Discovery Gallery is Jurassic Seas, but the space was engineered with future exhibits in mind, whether jellyfish, fish tanks, touch-and-feel experiences, or something entirely different.

Making that possible meant rethinking what happens behind the exhibits. RMF relocated valves, piping and drains, modified chilled and hot water systems, and integrated life-support systems for saltwater and freshwater tanks, along with compressed air for the bubbler systems. The utilities were designed to support multiple configurations, then carefully concealed within the exhibit environment.

RMF’s structural and electrical teams also collaborated on a lighting truss with RGBW capabilities, creating dynamic lighting scenes that can shift colors and fade between settings with a touch screen.

In addition to MEP design engineering, RMF acted as the lead consultant on the project with Zachary Lander, PE leading the team.

📷: BuildWorks Marketing

Three days of engagment. Three causes. One shared commitment to making a difference in the communities RMF serves.

Last week, RMF Charlotte showed up across the region to participate in three events centered on enhancing community impact and workforce development, education, and healthcare.

⛳ Sept. 9 | Mint Hill Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament
RMF's Parker Litchfield and Craig Blythe teed up on the course with Gresham Smith in support of the Mint Hill Chamber Foundation’s community initiatives and Novant Health, who served as the tournament’s Title Sponsor.

🏆 Sept. 10 | Fayetteville State University Entrepreneurial Impact Awards Gala
Andrea Thompson represented RMF at the inaugural Awards Gala, celebrating the innovators, business leaders, and community champions driving economic growth throughout Fayetteville.

🎯 Sept. 11 | AdventHealth Women's Health & Wellness Clay Shoot
RMF sponsored the event and fielded the only all-women foursome. Joined by teammates from McMillan Pazdan Smith and AdventHealth, our team perfected their aim, broke some clays, and supported Cancer Services at AdventHealth Hendersonville.

🌱 Building on our earlier episodes, Decarb Debrief returns with a new case study in Episode 4: https://bit.ly/4xfJi3i

In this installment, RMF's Director of Sustainability Martha Larson shares a decade-long transformation of campus energy systems at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Joined by colleagues Alexandra Sherf and Carleton College's Mitch Miller, Martha highlights how a comprehensive, phased approach can drive meaningful decarbonization outcomes. Carleton’s strategy included transitioning its district energy system from steam to hot water, implementing geo-exchange infrastructure with a new heat pump plant, and expanding on-site renewable energy through wind, solar thermal, and solar PV.

The result: measurable reductions in energy use intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, and operating costs, demonstrating what’s possible with a well-planned, integrated approach.

This summer, 15 interns from RMF’s Baltimore office visited the (Baltimore Aircoil Company (BAC) headquarters in Jessup, MD to learn about cooling towers and other industry‑leading heat‑rejection technologies. They received an overview of cooling‑tower fundamentals and explored how evolving data‑center cooling demands are reshaping water and power usage around the world.

During a behind‑the‑scenes tour of BAC’s custom R&D and factory testing facility, the interns saw firsthand how this equipment operates under extreme conditions and how BAC engineers test to meet their clients’ rigorous requirements.

A special thank‑you to our BAC partners for generously sharing their time and expertise, as well as providing lunch for RMF’s future engineers.

Construction has completed on the University of Florida's Reitz Lawn Underground Utilities and Inner Road Improvements project, a major infrastructure investment that is enhancing the systems that support daily life across campus.

RMF provided civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering, along with construction administration, for the campus-wide modernization effort. The project included new underground utilities through Reitz Lawn, utility replacements, and roadway improvements along Inner Road.

Key improvements involved interconnecting the Weil Hall and McCarty chilled water plants with 1,700 linear feet of new 24-inch HDPE piping, increasing chilled water capacity and redundancy for 91 campus buildings. The project also replaced more than 3,000 linear feet of aging steam and condensate infrastructure serving 15 buildings, installed new electrical ductbanks and reclaimed water utilities to support future campus growth, and transformed Inner Road into a safer, two-way corridor with bicycle lanes, ADA-accessible sidewalks, raised pedestrian crossings, and enhanced lighting.

Delivered on an active campus, the work required extensive coordination to maintain uninterrupted utility service while minimizing impacts to students, faculty, and staff. The completed improvements address deferred maintenance, enhance system reliability and resilience, and support the University of Florida's long-term campus master plan for years to come.